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If Christ were King 



If Christ were King 



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BY 

ALBERT E; WAFFLE, D. D. 
n 

AUTHOR OF "THE LORD'S DAY" ($1,000 PRIZE BOOK) 

"CHRISTIANITY AND PROPERTY," "THE 

INTERPRETER WITH HIS BIBLE," ETC. 



THE GRIFFITH & ROWLAND PRESS 

PHILADELPHIA 

BOSTON CHICAGO ST. LOUIS 

TORONTO, CAN. LONDON, ENG. 






Copyright 19x2 by 
A. J. ROWLAND, Secretary 



Published September, 1912 



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A31 



^CI.A319684 



TO 
MY WIFE 



THE BEST CITIZEN OF THE 
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN ON EARTH 
WITH WHOM I AM ACQUAINTED 

THIS BOOK 

IS 

LOVINGLY DEDICATED 



CONTENTS 

Chapter Pagh 

I. What Sort of a Kingdom ? 9 

II. Who Shall Be the King? 19 

III. Citizens Native-born 28 

IV. How It Grows 34 

V. The Code 57 

VI. Joy and Gladness 75 

VII. The Churches 97 

VIII. The Social Order 124 

IX. Property 147 

X. The Industrial Order 169 

XL The Family 191 

XII. The State 210 

XIII. Civilization 232 

XIV. Opposition 254 

XV. Present Progress 274 

XVI. What of the Future? 301 

XVII. Thy Kingdom Come 323 



IF CHRIST WERE KING 



WHAT SORT OF A KINGDOM? 

WHEN our Lord taught his disciples to pray 
" Thy kingdom come/' what did he mean ? 
That word " kingdom/' which fell so often from 
his lips, what did it connote? In his mind there 
must have been a clear concept behind the word, 
or he would not have used it. Jesus was profound 
and mystical, as every teacher must be who deals 
with things spiritual, but his thinking was never 
confused or cloudy. A perfectly developed and 
well-defined idea was embodied in every word that 
he spoke. But did he succeed in conveying his idea 
to the minds of his disciples ? Not always ; he was 
baffled by their preconceptions, which were false 
and wrong; by their natural stupidity, and by the 
slowness of the human mind to receive great ideas. 
And in no case was their failure to grasp his 
thought more complete than in what he said about 
his kingdom. In the records there is no intimation 

9 



10 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

that they apprehended his real meaning. It is 
probable that when he said " kingdom " they 
thought of the Jewish nation, as it might be 
restored to liberty, unity, purity, and prosperity 
under his reign. It is almost certain that, previous 
to Pentecost, they did not go beyond this material- 
istic conception; after their baptism in the Holy 
Spirit their ideas of the kingdom were purified 
and enlarged, but those ideas seem never to have 
been perfected. The fact is, they were too much 
absorbed in their work as witnesses to give much 
thought to the nature of the kingdom. But they 
were none the less kingdom-builders because they 
were unconscious of that side of their work. 
Perhaps they did their work all the better because 
they were intent upon the twofold purpose of 
preaching the gospel and exalting Christ as Lord. 
But, surely, Christ intends that we shall get the 
broadest and clearest conception possible of the 
nature of his kingdom. Perhaps we shall be 
assisted in realizing that purpose by beginning with 
rudiments. A kingdom is a realm ruled by a king. 
Primarily, it is a country or a nation under the 
control of a single person. By a figure of speech 
the term may be extended to any realm — for 
example, the realm of thought, of feeling, and of 
spiritual life. In any case, a kingdom implies 
living, personal subjects who bow to the authority 
of the sovereign. Though a man might own abso- 
lutely a whole continent, if there were no human 



WHAT SORT OF A KINGDOM? II 

beings on it he could hardly be said to have a 
kingdom. 

In discussing some characteristics of the kingdom 
it may be well for us to notice in the first place 
that it is present. When Jesus spoke of it as the 
kingdom of heaven he did not imply that we are 
to wait for its realization till we pass into another 
world. That phrase means rather that its source — 
the power by which it is originated and sustained 
— is in heaven. " Thy kingdom come, thy will be 
done on earth/' is the prayer Jesus taught his 
disciples to offer. Heaven is, of course, a part of 
the kingdom of God, but it is not the part in which 
Jesus was primarily interested and of which he 
spoke so often. Neither is it the part we are dis- 
cussing; our theme is the kingdom on earth. 

In a sense, this kingdom is a thing of the future. 
In its perfection it has not come, but is coming. 
It is a force working in the world for the produc- 
tion of " the perfect man in a perfect society." 
Of necessity it is a thing of slow growth and 
requires the ages for its consummation. In another 
sense, it is now present in the world. Jesus usually 
spoke of it in that way. Note such phrases as 
" The kingdom of God is come upon you " (Luke 
II : 20) ; " The kingdom of God is at hand " (Mark 
1:15); "The kingdom of God is among you" 
(Luke 17:21). You will remember that, in de- 
scribing certain classes in the Beatitudes, he said 
of them, " Theirs is the kingdom of heaven," 



12 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

assuring them that it was a blessed and present 
reality for living men and women. The kingdom 
is in the world, though not of the world. It has 
been here since the advent of Christ, slowly grow- 
ing toward his amazing ideal of a world-wide king- 
dom of righteousness and peace and joy and 
brotherly love. 

The kingdom of heaven is supernatural. We 
think of a kingdom as a nation that has grown up 
by natural processes, — by social development, by 
coalition, or by conquest. Usually a kingdom is 
sustained and defended by force. Its growth and 
greatness depend upon certain natural advantages. 
It counts itself great if it has a large and fertile 
country, a numerous and intelligent population, 
material wealth, and the comforts and privileges 
of a highly developed civilization. But all these 
things are natural products. They come from the 
exercise of the human mind in the use of natural 
resources. They make a natural kingdom. 

But the kingdom of God is not made by any of 
these means. In no sense can it be formed out of 
such materials. It is a supernatural kingdom. It 
is supernatural in the sense that it comes down 
from heaven. It cannot be made out of anything 
that is on the earth. " My kingdom is not of this 
world," said Jesus; "my kingdom is not from 
hence " (John 18 : 36). It has not the same source, 
it is not promoted and sustained by the same means, 
it has not the same elements and characteristics, it 



WHAT SORT OF A KINGDOM? 13 

has not the same purposes as the kingdoms of this 
world. 

The supernatural origin of the kingdom of 
heaven on earth is clearly set forth by many 
striking expressions and vivid scenes in the Scrip- 
tures. The holy city, new Jerusalem, " coming 
down out of heaven from God, made ready as a 
bride adorned for her husband," which John saw, 
represented it. This is not a picture of heaven, but 
of something " coming down out of heaven from 
God." And in explanation of the scene, John 
"heard a great voice out of the throne, saying: 
Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he 
shall dwell with them and they shall be his peoples " 
(Rev. 21 : 2, 3) ; not with angels, nor with redeemed 
spirits, but with men on the earth. We must not 
dwell now on the details of the picture ; our present 
purpose is to emphasize the fact that the kingdom 
of God on earth has a supernatural origin. 

It is a kingdom of grace. It not only comes 
down from heaven, it comes as a free gift to its 
subjects. Its sovereignty is exercised wholly in the 
interests of those who are ruled. This fact sepa- 
rates it radically and completely from the kingdoms 
of this world. The kings of earth have generally 
assumed that their kingdoms existed for their sake 
— to give them power and honor and glory and 
wealth and pleasure. The people were their serv- 
ants, and from the royalist point of view their only 
uses were to be taxed and to fight for their king. 



14 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

This sentiment has gone all the way down through 
the various grades of so-called nobility. Jesus re- 
ferred to this fact in the words : " Ye know that the 
rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their 
great men exercise authority over them" (Matt. 
20 : 25 ) . But the kingdom of Christ is radically dif- 
ferent. He is the great Servant. His title to his 
throne is his spirit of service. He reigns for the 
good of his subjects. He has authority; he makes 
requirements ; he insists on obedience, but not for 
his own sake ; it is because only thus can he confer 
in fullest measure the blessings of his kingdom. 

The kingdom is spiritual. It begins not with the 
development of material resources, not with educa- 
tion and culture, not with social organization and 
the enactment of laws, nor with the establishment 
of the institutions of civilization. It begins in the 
souls of men and, first and chiefly, pertains to the 
inner life. They make a radical and disastrous 
mistake who suppose that the kingdom of heaven, 
or anything like it, can be established on earth by 
improvements in the environment, the physical con- 
dition, or the social state of man. " The kingdom 
of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, 
and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14: 
17). According to the teaching of Christ, it is not 
clothes, nor houses, nor lands, nor any of the 
material advantages of civilization. It does not 
consist primarily and essentially in any phenomena 
which can be observed and studied. Christ said to 



WHAT SORT OF A KINGDOM? 1 5 

the Pharisees : " The kingdom of God cometh not 
with observation. . . The kingdom of God is among 
you" (Luke 17:20, 21). He could not have said, 
as the common translation makes him say, " the 
kingdom of God is within you" (Pharisees), for 
that would not have been true. What he meant was : 
" You are asking when the kingdom of God shall 
come. My answer is that it is here now, right 
among you, but you do not see it because it is 
spiritual. Do not think you can fix the time of its 
coming by the observation of phenomena. It is 
here now in me, and in every one who loves and 
trusts and obeys me." 

It is thus an invisible kingdom. In the individual 
it begins with the submission of the will to the 
authority of Jesus Christ as God. That act no 
other human being can see. The purified and 
ennobled life that follows this submission has its 
source and support in the invisible spirit. By every 
possible form of expression Jesus taught that the 
kingdom is primarily a matter of character and the 
inner life. He said, " Except a man be born again, 
he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). 
He also said : " Except ye turn, and become as little 
children, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom 
of heaven" (Matt. 18:3). They must have the 
humility, the simplicity, the teachableness, the trust- 
fulness of little children to be fit for the kingdom. 
Yet again he said : " Except your righteousness shall 
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Phari- 



1 6 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

sees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of 
heaven" (Matt. 5:20). The righteousness of the 
scribes and Pharisees was external and formal ; the 
subjects of the Messianic kingdom must have 
righteousness of the heart. 

These are his negative or prohibitive statements ; 
he spoke also on the positive side. In the first 
sentences of the Sermon on the Mount, he says 
that the poor in spirit, the penitent, the meek, those 
who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the 
merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and 
those persecuted for righteousness' sake, are happy 
because they have the blessings and privileges of 
members of the kingdom. 

The real kingdom of heaven is, therefore, 
spiritual and invisible. It pertains primarily to the 
inner life. Its motive-power is the life of God in 
the soul of man. That life Jesus gives to every 
one who loves and trusts and obeys him. His 
kingdom is, first of all, a kingdom of souls. 

And yet, it is a visible kingdom. It is inevitable 
that the inner life will manifest itself in outward 
conduct. All the evils of the world, its sins, its 
wrongs, its miseries, have come out of the hearts 
of men ; all the blessings of the kingdom of heaven 
on earth, its righteousness, its purity, its peace, its 
joy, must come out of the hearts of men. Though 
they originate in heaven, they come to earth by way 
of human hearts. The forces which work for the 
coming of spring and summer work secretly and 



WHAT SORT OF A KINGDOM? 17 

invisibly ; yet, when spring and summer come, there 
are plants and flowers and fruits and all the glories 
of productive nature. Peter says that " we, accord- 
ing to his promise, look for a new heaven and a 
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." Right- 
eousness is rightness. Those who come under the 
reign of Christ and enter his kingdom are right 
in all their relations, right with God, right with 
their fellow-men, and right with themselves. 

The kingdom of heaven is social. No man can 
be a disciple of Christ alone, unless he happens to 
be the only man on an inaccessible island. The 
subjects of the King owe duties to one another as 
well as to him. Its keywords are love and service 
to others. In its boundaries " no man liveth unto 
himself/' Its perfection makes every man right 
with his fellows in all possible relations. It means 
that in the home, in the church, in society, in busi- 
ness and industrial relations, and in the State, men 
are to live as brothers. 

It is a kingdom of wide relations. It must not 
be supposed that it has to do only with our religious 
life. That is a mistake which, with disastrous 
results, has clung to the minds of men through the 
Christian centuries. The kingdom of heaven on 
earth has to do with every phase of human life 
and touches for good every human interest. It is 
related to marriage, the family, the home, to educa- 
tion, to our physical welfare, to the development 
of natural resources, to the transaction of business, 

B 



l8 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

to the accumulation and use of property, to indus- 
trial problems, to man's social and political affairs, 
to the State, to laws, manners, customs, and amuse- 
ments, to literature and art — in a word, to all forms 
and aspects of the life of man on this earth and to 
all institutions of human society. A discussion of 
these relations will occupy the larger part of this 
book. Our chief interest is in the sociological 
aspects of the kingdom. What would its coming 
mean to the life of man in all the phases of that 
life? How may its coming be promoted? These 
are our questions, and for finite minds there are no 
greater questions 



II 

WHO SHALL BE THE KING? 

THE question is all-important, because the king 
is to exercise supreme authority over the 
subjects. Can any person except God Jhe Father 
have a right to such authority ? In the New Testa- 
ment the kingdom of heaven on earth is commonly 
spoken of as the " kingdom of God," and Jesus 
taught us to pray to the Father " thy kingdom 
come." Is he, then, the king? 

Jesus claims the throne. He spoke frequently of 
11 my kingdom." He said, " I appoint unto you a 
kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me " 
(Luke 22:29). In the parables of the kingdom 
he represents himself as the King, dispensing bene- 
fits or executing judgment. He allowed others 
to call him king and did not rebuke them. He 
claimed that all authority had been given him in 
heaven and on earth, and commissioned his disciples 
to push his claims. Is he, then, an Absalom seek- 
ing to occupy the throne which belongs to his 
Father? 

The question is not theoretical, but has immense 
practical importance. We cannot admit his claim 
to kingship unless we are prepared to acknowledge 

19 



20 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

his deity. No man, though he be the best and 
wisest and strongest that ever lived or ever will 
live on the earth, can justly and properly exercise 
supreme authority over men. If Christ is not God, 
he is not king of the kingdom of heaven on earth. 
And the practical side of the matter appears when 
we consider that men will not accept the teaching 
of Jesus as final and authoritative on all personal, 
social, industrial, and political questions while they 
deny his deity. That is the very point at issue 
before the world's tribunal to-day. Has any person 
spoken with an authoritative voice on all these great 
questions of life ? It becomes necessary, therefore, 
to consider briefly Christ's claim to kingship. 

He based his claims upon divine appointment: 
" I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father 
hath appointed unto me." He found that appoint- 
ment in Scriptures referring to the Messiah, espe- 
cially in the prophecies (Gen. 49: 10; Isa. 9:6, 7; 
Jer. 23:5; Dan. 7:13, 14; Zech. 9:9, 10; Micah 
5: 2) and Psalms (Ps. 2:6, 8; 72:8; no: 1). He 
inferred it from what the Angel of Annunciation 
had told his mother (Luke 1:31-33). Above all, 
he knew it by direct communication of the Spirit 
from the Father. 

No mind open to conviction by any amount of 
proof can believe that he was deluded in this matter. 
The unvarying uniformity of his assertions, the 
cloudless serenity of his spirit, his air of authority, 
the wonderful richness of his promises, and the 



WHO SHALL BE THE KING? 21 

founding of all his plans for the future preclude 
the acceptance of such a theory. The purity, benevo- 
lence, and self-sacrifice of his life make it impos- 
sible to suspect him of being an impostor. He 
appealed to his works as proof that he and the 
Father were one : " Believe me that I am in the 
Father and the Father in me : or else believe me for 
the very works' sake " (John 14: 11). 

When Jesus announced himself as King, where 
was his kingdom ? He ruled no country, no people 
acknowledged his authority, he had no army of 
fighting men, no palace, no retinue of servants to 
minister to his desires, none of the insignia and 
surroundings of a king. At his death only one man 
had faith in the future of his kingdom, and he was 
a poor robber dying on a cross. If the world was 
rightfully his kingdom, it was certainly in revolt 
and denied and rejected his authority. He had his 
kingdom to win; how should he gain it? He said 
he could not fight for it : " My kingdom is not of 
this world : if my kingdom were of this world, then 
would my servants fight " (John 18:36). The 
method by which he proposed to gain his crown 
demands our attention for two reasons: first, 
because it illustrates the nature of his kingdom; 
and, secondly, because it helps to establish in 
thoughtful and discerning minds his claim to 
kingship. 

He who would rule over humanity must be both 
God and man; hence his incarnation was a neces- 



22 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

sary step in his march to the throne. He announced 
his purpose to build on the truth : " To this end 
am I come into the world, that I should bear witness 
unto the truth" (John 18:37); f° r on the truth 
alone could there be a permanent building, one that 
would stand all possible tests. For victory he de- 
pended chiefly on his death : " And I, if I be lifted 
up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself " 
(John 12: 32). This he said, signifying what death 
he should die. But his claim to divine authority 
rested almost as much on his resurrection. He was, 
Paul says, " declared to be the Son of God with 
power ... by the resurrection of the dead " (Rom. 
1:4). Humanity needs a living, undying king. 
In our warfare for the establishment of the king- 
dom we are not asked to rally around a memory, or 
a name, or a principle, but around a living Person. 
These were preparatory steps. For the actual 
power to win his throne, Jesus depended on the 
Holy Spirit. It was by the energy of the Spirit 
in his personal life that he fulfilled his ministry and 
" offered himself without blemish unto God " (Heb. 
9:14). When his disciples were about to begin 
their campaign for the conquest of the world, he 
said to them, " Ye shall receive power when the 
Holy Ghost is come upon you" (Acts 1:8). The 
means which Jesus appointed for the gaining of his 
kingdom was simply the proclamation of the truth 
about the love of God and the right way of life. 
They were to preach the gospel to the world and 



WHO SHALL BE THE KING? 2$ 

teach their converts the doctrines he had taught. 
These are the forces and the means by which Jesus 
expected to gain his throne. 

Is he worthy to be the king of the new world? 
To his devoted followers the question seems un- 
necessary and irreverent, and yet it ought to be 
asked and answered. His claims must be submit- 
ted to our reason, and he must be able to meet 
every test before we can yield him sovereignty. 
In that position his influence over human life would 
be so immeasurable, and his control of human des- 
tiny so absolute, that his worthiness must be 
proved before the race will " crown him Lord of 
all." And many of those who would protest most 
indignantly against any inquiry concerning his 
worthiness are the slowest to yield him real control 
of their lives. It is well, therefore, that we should 
raise the question of whether or not he is worthy 
of complete sovereignty. 

That he will reign in love is proved by his life 
of service and his sacrificial death. His kingdom, 
as we have already shown, is a kingdom of grace. 
He rules to bestow benefits upon his people, not to 
plunder them. In gentleness, patience, kindness, 
mercy he stands supreme. His greatness in these 
attributes will not be questioned. 

But has he kingly qualities? He was absolutely 
truthful He spoke the truth, practised no eva- 
sions, subterfuges, sophistries, was incapable of flat- 
tery, never raised false hopes. 



24 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

His simplicity was wonderful. There was no 
complexity, crookedness, duplicity, or craftiness 
about him. He was always frank, open, candid, 
straightforward. It was known exactly where he 
stood at all times. 

His courage was sublime. Beyond question he 
was the bravest man that ever lived. For the sake 
of his mission he deliberately adopted a course 
that he knew would bring against him the remon- 
strances of friends, the hatred of his own nation, 
contempt, reproach, and mockery from those who 
should have honored him, and pursued that course 
to the end. He never wavered. The more bitter 
the hostility, the more outspoken he became. This 
is the very flower and crown of courage, and in 
no other man has the world seen it in perfection. 

Jesus had remarkable insight. He saw far and 
he saw straight. No prejudice, no bias from tra- 
dition or bad training, no self-seeking warped and 
distorted his vision, so that he saw the truth untrue. 
He was not misled by appearances. He was not 
deceived by illusions or fancies. Straight into the 
heart of things he looked, and he saw the eternal 
realities. He had this power because his heart was 
pure, his mind undivided, and he was always obedi- 
ent to the Father. 

He was entirely independent. Seeing clearly 
truth and duty, he acted always on what he knew. 
He was importuned by his kindred or his dis- 
ciples to change his course, and the leading men 



WHO SHALL BE THE KING? 2$ 

of his nation opposed him and gave him plainly to 
understand that if he wanted their support he must 
consult their wishes, but none of these forces could 
swerve him a hair's breadth from his chosen line. 
In spite of all he went straight on in the way that 
led to his goal. 

He had great moral enthusiasm. He could give 
himself without reserve to live and die for a cause. 
His passion for the right was consuming. When 
he drove the traders out of the temple " his dis- 
ciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of 
thine house hath eaten me up " (John 2: 17). But 
greater than his zeal for the right was his passion 
for humanity. This consumed all his energy, all 
his power, all his love, his very life. 

Surely, in his moral qualities he was a kingly 
man. A man who is perfect in love, in truthful- 
ness, in simplicity, in courage, in insight, in inde- 
pendence, and in moral enthusiasm is fitted in moral 
character to reign over his fellows. 

His intellectual greatness must be admitted. The 
world grows slowly to the conviction that he was 
the greatest thinker — the greatest genius — as well 
as the greatest lover among the sons of men, and 
that in him the wisdom of God has been offered 
to the race. 

This intellectual supremacy is apparent in his 
plan for a universal kingdom. That a man should 
dream of a brotherhood including all races of men — 
races contemptuous and hostile in their feelings 



26 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

toward one another, separated widely by prejudices, 
habits of thought, and ways of life which have 
grown and hardened through centuries of aliena- 
tion, marks him at once as a great genius. No 
other man has been able to form such a conception. 
It is almost impossible for other great men to think 
his thought after him. 

Not less clearly indicative of intellectual great- 
ness is his clear perception of the change which 
must take place in every man in order that this 
kingdom may become possible. His announcement 
that the law of love should be the all-inclusive law 
of his kingdom is an equally striking proof of his 
mental supremacy. 

Christ's discovery of man was a great intellectual 
feat. It immeasurably outranks the discovery of 
a new continent on the earth or a new star in the 
heavens. Others had their minds on the incidents, 
or trappings, or positions, or possessions, or pos- 
sible uses of man; it remained for Jesus alone to 
discover the essential man and to estimate at its 
true value that in him which is real and permanent. 
Who but Jesus has been great enough to see that 
meekness is might and that victory comes through 
self-surrender? 

Even this hurried glance at the mind of Jesus 
makes it evident that in intellectual power he stands 
first among the sons of men. We need not hesi- 
tate to crown him King because of any mental defect 
or weakness, for he has none. He knows all truth, 



WHO SHALL BE THE KING? 2*J 

he thinks the deepest thoughts, he understands per- 
fectly the nature and need of man. He has the 
wisdom that sees the noblest ends and chooses the 
best means of attaining them, and he makes no 
mistakes in the work assigned his servants or in 
the rewards given the faithful. 



Ill 

CITIZENS NATIVE-BORN 

THE subjects of the kingdom of heaven on 
earth are men and women. There is, we 
believe, a kingdom of heaven beyond the skies 
whose subjects are creatures of a different order; 
but at present we are not concerned about that 
kingdom. All men, of all colors and conditions, 
are possible subjects of the kingdom on earth. Its 
universality is one of its remarkable characteris- 
tics. It is not for any privileged class or favored 
nation, but for all men. " Go 'ye," said Jesus, " and 
make disciples of all the nations." Some have not 
wished other races than their own to have the 
privileges and blessings of the gospel. More have 
doubted their capacity to receive it, and to develop 
the character necessary to membership in the king- 
dom. But over against such human hatred or con- 
tempt stands the plan of Jesus that all races and 
conditions shall be included. And in this is ap- 
parent the transcendent greatness of Jesus. 
Though by human descent and training a Jew, he 
loved all men. He perceived that essentially they 
are all alike and all of equal value. In the sight 
of heaven a beggar is worth as much as a million- 
28 






CITIZENS NATIVE-BORN 29 

aire, a slave as much as an emperor, a Negro as 
much as a Roman, an Arab as much as a Jew, 
and a Scythian as much as a Greek. From the 
point of view of his kingdom a common tramp on 
the road is just as valuable as the President of 
the United States, a Chinese coolie worth as much 
as the ruler of the British Empire. Of course, 
thoughts like these would make him bitterly hated 
by members of the higher castes, and it was partly 
on account of them that he was rejected and cru- 
cified. But they are the sign and seal of his great- 
ness, and the ground of assurance that his king- 
dom will be an everlasting kingdom. 

The subjects of Christ's kingdom are all native- 
born. In the kingdoms of this world there are 
other means of gaining citizenship. In the Roman 
Empire it could be purchased. Sometimes it was 
conferred as a reward for conspicuous service to 
the State. Thousands of men have come to the 
United States from the different countries of 
Europe and been " naturalized/' as we say, thus 
acquiring the privileges of citizenship in our coun- 
try. The process is mechanical and legal, and 
simply effects a change of relations. 

But nothing of that kind ever occurs in the 
kingdom of Jesus. Every citizen of it is native- 
born. On the authority of the King himself we say 
that there is no other way to enter it. To one 
who thought himself well qualified for citizenship 
in it he said, " Ye must be born again." " Except 



30 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

a man be born from above, he cannot see the king- 
dom of God" (John 3:7, 3). He makes it very 
plain that it is not a matter of natural heredity. 
In the social or political world the sons of citizens 
in any country are entitled to citizenship, but it is 
not so in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said, 
" That which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that 
which is born of the Spirit is spirit " (John 3:6). 

It is clear that citizenship in the kingdom is a 
privilege which cannot be conferred upon one by 
man. All citizens of the kingdom are native-born, 
but they are " born of God." It is the kingdom 
of God and only sons of God can be its subjects. 
They are men and women who have been regen- 
erated by the Holy Spirit. There is a sense in 
which all men are sons of God, since they are the 
creatures of his hand; but real sonship has been 
forfeited and destroyed by sin and selfishness and 
surrender to the dominance of the carnal mind. 
The Scriptures assert, with many varied forms of 
expression and with great wealth of illustration, 
that an experience called the new birth is essen- 
tial to sonship and a place in the kingdom of God. 

It is objected that this condition restricts ter- 
ribly the boundaries of the kingdom of heaven on 
earth and shuts out the great majority of man- 
kind, since so few ever enjoy this experience. The 
objection is groundless. We still insist that cit- 
izenship in the kingdom is offered in good faith 
to every human being who hears of Jesus. The 



CITIZENS NATIVE-BORN 3 1 

mystery of the new birth need not discourage any 
one. We do not have to solve that mystery before 
we can enjoy the privilege and enter the kingdom. 
Our regeneration is God's part, not ours. The con- 
dition we must observe is to receive Jesus Christ 
as Saviour and Lord. " As many as received him, 
to them gave he the right to become children of 
God, even to them that believe on his name " (John 
1:12). Any person — even a child — can tell 
whether or not he has observed this condition. If 
one has, he will soon learn that God is faithful to 
perform his part. Nevertheless, it remains true 
that all subjects of the kingdom of heaven on earth 
are native-born, and that the only way to enter it is 
to be born into it. 

This doctrine is squarely against the theory that 
men become citizens of the kingdom of heaven by 
the process of evolution. It is held by many in 
our day that the kingdom of heaven on earth con- 
sists simply of those who are sufficiently devel- 
oped to be worthy of it. And this process of evo- 
lution can be greatly accelerated by education and 
culture, especially moral and religious culture. But 
this is not the doctrine of the King, Jesus. To one 
of the noblest products of Jewish culture he said, 
" Except a man be born from above he cannot see 
the kingdom of God." This removes another 
grave objection which might be brought against the 
kingdom on the ground of its narrowness. Ac- 
cording to the plan of Jesus, the countless millions 



32 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

of human beings who have missed every oppor- 
tunity for culture may enter at once by the way 
of the new birth. 

The conscious acts by which one becomes a cit- 
izen of the kingdom are repentance and faith. In 
repentance one turns from sin unto holiness, from 
worldliness to spirituality, from self to Christ. By 
faith one accepts Christ as Saviour, and through 
him as sin-bearer, obtains forgiveness of sins and 
peace with God. But faith goes much farther than 
this. In the citizen of the kingdom it becomes the 
bond of connection between his soul and the King 
and the medium through which the new life is 
supported. It is not acceptance of a creed; it is 
trust in a person. We trust Christ as one trusts 
a physician for healing, a teacher for instruction, 
a guide for direction. It implies complete submis- 
sion to his authority. If we believe in him we re- 
ceive him as the Lord of our life to the last detail. 
It implies acceptance of him as our pattern, and 
strenuous effort to " walk even as he walked." 

Thus the citizens become like their king. They 
are like him as sin-bearers. They take their cross 
and follow him in effort to redeem the world from 
sin. They are like him in being witnesses to the 
truth and revealers of God. They are like him in 
self-renunciation and the spirit of service. They 
are like him in steadfastness of purpose and per- 
severance in righteousness. One important issue of 
trust in the king is love for the king. If we know 



CITIZENS NATIVE-BORN 33 

him and receive his benefits we shall have growing 
devotion to him and his cause. Thus we shall break 
all ties and renounce all treasure which will in any 
way interfere with giving him perfect service. If 
we love him we shall share his love for humanity 
and his passion for the redemption and upbuilding 
of lost men. 

Subjects of the king are like him in that they 
" walk by faith." We must not forget or overlook 
the fact that Jesus was a man of faith — the only 
man whose faith was absolutely perfect. Faith 
was the means by which he gained the power to 
live his life, to fulfil his mission, to endure his suf- 
ferings, to win his victories. We too are to live by 
faith. The way that he opened for himself to a 
grand and admirable life remains open to us for a 
similar life. 



IV 

HOW IT GROWS 

IF the kingdom of heaven on earth means the 
reign of God in the hearts of men, it certainly- 
had a very small beginning. At the time of our 
Lord's ascension, of all the thronging millions who 
peopled the globe how few there were who knew 
anything at all of the true God ! The most of them 
were idolaters, with degrading rites and ceremonies, 
worshiping gods made with hands. Their ideas and 
habits were separated by infinite spaces from the 
thoughts and purposes and laws of Christ. And 
even the few who knew the Messiah and honored 
his name were only partially subject to his authority. 
Both in quantity and quality the kingdom was an 
insignificant fact at that early stage of its history. 
The mustard-seed, smallest of all seeds, was fitting 
symbol of its littleness. 

But there was an expectation that it would be- 
come world-wide in its extent and glorious in its 
perfection. Such had been the hope of Israel, kin- 
dled and kept glowing by her great prophets. In 
the Second Psalm, which voices the Messianic hope 
with great clearness, we find these significant words : 
" Thou art my son ; this day have I begotten thee. 
34 



HOW IT GROWS 35 

Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine 
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for 
thy possession." The early part of the psalm speaks 
of the world's tumultuous and hateful rebellion 
" against the Lord, and against his anointed " ; here 
is the clear hope of conquest and dominion by the 
Son. The same hope shines brightly through all 
the splendid prophecies of Isaiah. In a passage 
which is generally interpreted as applying to the 
Son-Servant, the Christ, he says : " He shall not 
fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment 
in the earth ; and the isles shall wait for his law " 
(Isa. 42: 4). Here is the suggestion of long, bitter, 
wearying conflict, with victory at the end. Daniel 
saw in a vision " a son of man " brought before the 
" Ancient of days/' " and there was given him 
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the 
people, nations, and languages should serve him " 
(Dan. 7:13, 14). 

This hope is taken up and repeated by Christ and 
the apostles. It shines with increased brilliancy 
and splendor in the Revelation of John. It has 
been the hope of Christians in all ages. It has 
given an optimistic tone to the best Christian litera- 
ture. It is especially noticeable in what may be 
called the prophetic hymns of the church. 

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
Does his successive journeys run; 
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more. 



36 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

People and realms, of every tongue, 
Dwell on his love with sweetest song; 
And infant voices shall proclaim 
Their early blessings on his name. 

Many have sung this without much thought of 
its meaning, but no one ever questioned our right 
to sing it. This hope has not only furnished the 
Christian world with a great and noble ideal ; it has 
also been an unfailing source of strength and 
courage and patience for the conflict. 

But how is the hope to be realized ? How is the 
kingdom on earth to grow from its insignificant be- 
ginning in a few souls, only partially subjected to 
the King, to that great, world-wide, heart-deep 
domain which the prophets foretold ? The question 
is intensely practical, for our answer to it will affect 
our faith, our methods of work, and our steadfast- 
ness in the service. 

Among methods of progress which have received 
more or less consideration two stand out conspic- 
uously in the teaching of Christian leaders: Some 
believe that it is impossible to change the " world " 
— that its life, its aims and methods, its laws and 
its institutions will remain evil to the end, and that 
the only function of Christianity is to rescue as 
many as possible from this incorrigible and doomed 
" world " and transfer them into the kingdom of 
heaven. They contend that Christ never expected 
to save a majority of the human race, and that his 
dictum, " Many are called, but few chosen " (Matt. 



HOW IT GROWS 37 

22:14), remains true throughout the ages. They 
also contend that the kingdom as it now exists on 
the earth has no salutary or helpful influence on 
the " world " — that it may, indeed, make it worse, 
being " a savor of death unto death " to them that 
reject the gospel of Christ. According to this view 
there will be little visible progress of the kingdom 
till Christ comes to reign in person on the earth. 
At his coming he will destroy the wicked who are 
then living, raise the righteous who have died, and 
set up his throne of power, thus making by one 
stupendous revolution " a new earth wherein dwell- 
eth righteousness." 

The other important view is that the kingdom 
increases slowly, gradually, somewhat after the 
manner in which a plant or an animal grows. Ac- 
cording to this view the kingdom increases in the 
number of disciples whom Christ gains, in the 
degree in which the ideas and precepts of Jesus 
are accepted and incorporated into the personal 
and social lives of these disciples, in the degree in 
which his ideas and precepts appear as public sen- 
timent, civil law, and social institutions, and in its 
influence upon that " world " whose citizens do 
not personally receive Christ as Saviour and Lord. 
By the spread of the gospel, by teaching the doc- 
trines of Jesus, by the testimony and lives of dis- 
ciples, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, this 
gradual increase is to be secured. If the former 
view is correct Christ may come any day to set 



38 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

up his kingdom on earth; according to the latter 
view, even an approximate perfection of the king- 
dom must lie many centuries in the future. It 
should be noticed that it is not a question of 
whether Christ will ever reign supreme; it is a 
question of the method by which he will gain his 
kingly crown. It is not a question of ultimate fact, 
but of immediate process. 

We shall certainly get light on this subject by 
turning directly to the words of Jesus. Some of 
his teaching was intended to correct a false con- 
ception formed and entertained by his first dis- 
ciples. They had the Jewish idea of a material 
kingdom which might be set up by force and which 
might, therefore, come suddenly, on some ap- 
pointed day. Their question, " Lord, dost thou at 
this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 
1:6), indicates that state of mind. One of his own 
enigmatical sayings may have done something to 
foster such an idea. During the interview which 
followed the return of the Seventy, " he said unto 
them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from 
heaven" (Luke 10:18). Such a vision would 
seem to imply a very speedy establishment of his 
reign; but we must interpret it in the light of his 
general teaching on the subject; and in that light 
it can only mean that he saw in a single, super- 
natural glance what would be the slow result of 
many centuries of effort. For the general trend 
of his teaching seems to be that his kingdom is 



HOW IT GROWS 39 

to grow — that its increase in the world is to be slow 
and gradual. 

His clearest and most impressive utterances on 
the subject are to be found in some of the par- 
ables. In the parable of the Mustard-seed (Matt. 
I 3-3 I ? 3 2 ) he says that the kingdom of heaven is 
like this seed, which, though very small, may grow 
into a large tree. Here the central thought — the 
essential point — is the contrast between the very 
small beginning which the kingdom had and the 
immense proportions which it would eventually 
attain. It began in an obscure Galilean peasant; 
it grew to a small company of poor, humble, un- 
learned, uninfluential disciples; that was all that 
could be seen of it when the parable was spoken. 
But Jesus assures the disciples that by virtue of 
power in itself it will grow till this beginning is 
to the great, world-wide kingdom as the mustard- 
seed is to the tree. If at any time their task should 
seem hopeless, they must cheer their lagging hearts 
by this truth. They might not see the growth, but 
it would be growing. Incidentally, however, the 
parable teaches that the method of increase will 
be this imperceptible but steady growth. They 
must not look for its sudden establishment. 

Another aspect of the same thought is presented 
in the words, " The kingdom of heaven is like unto 
leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three meas- 
ures of meal, till it was all leavened " (Matt. 13: 
33). Probably the first application to be made of 



40 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

this is that the leaven represents the divine life 
working in the individual soul and transforming it 
into the likeness of Christ. It also illustrates the 
power of the gospel to reform and reconstruct 
man's social life. Of these two uses of the par- 
able we shall speak more fully in a moment. We 
pause here to say that they do not exhaust its 
meaning. The leaven working in humanity may 
have evangelizing power. It should be noted that 
it works from within outwardly, and it works se- 
cretly and unobserved. It grows, or expands, by 
contact; leavened particles touch the unleavened 
and thus impart to them the principle by which they 
are changed. Thus one human soul is made 
alive by the new birth, and, coming in contact with 
one dead in trespasses and sins and showing the life 
in character and conduct, in speech and action, im- 
parts it, and so the divine life spreads and becomes 
more pervasive. " Till it was all leavened " may not 
mean that at any time in the future history of the 
world every human being will be a faithful Chris- 
tian; the predictions Christ made concerning the 
final judgment warn us not to cherish such an 
expectation; but they must mean that the whole 
mass of humanity will be influenced by the power 
of the kingdom. It is hardly fair to empty them 
of meaning, as one must who holds that only a 
small portion of the race will ever be saved. 

Of these two parables it may be said that the 
former illustrates the extensive growth of the king- 



HOW IT GROWS 41 

dom and the latter its intensive growth. The for- 
mer shows the progress of the kingdom as it ap- 
pears to the world. Men see it gaining multitudes 
of subjects, spreading its dominion over the world, 
manifesting itself in Christian institutions, cleans- 
ing, uplifting, ennobling every phase of human life, 
making its power felt in the laws, manners, cus- 
toms, ideas, and industries of all people, and they 
wonder how so mighty and imposing a creation 
could grow from such an insignificant beginning. 
This is the growth that can be measured by sta- 
tistics, by conversions to Christ, by contributions 
of money to his cause, by the increase of Christian 
churches, schools, books, papers, preachers, mis- 
sionaries, teachers, and by the obvious concessions 
which men make to Christian sentiment. 

The growth which is illustrated by the action of 
the leaven affects primarily that in which the divine 
life has begun and tends to its perfection. It may 
be the character of the individual believer. The 
life starts in the spirit and spreads out through 
the will, the affections, the reason, the imagination, 
the disposition, and the impulses, until the whole 
man is brought into subjection to Christ, and even 
the life and habits of the body pass under his con- 
trol. This is the perfection of the kingdom in the 
individual. Even after we become true followers 
of Christ, a close and impartial scrutiny of our- 
selves will show that we are not wholly sanctified 
or consecrated to his service. We shall find that 



42 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

parts of that inner realm which we call the soul 
have not been surrendered to him. With refer- 
ence to our own persons we need to pray " Thy 
kingdom come." And the general subjugation of 
these powers of our nature to his will means the 
growth of the kingdom. And it is by no means the 
least important element of growth, for one soul 
completely surrendered to him becomes a mighty 
factor in the redemption of the world. 

Or this intensive growth may relate to the vari- 
ous forms of social life which may be affected by 
Christianity — the gradual perfecting of the family, 
the church, the community, or the nation. It is 
quite certain that there has never yet been a per- 
fect church, and different churches have shown 
varying degrees of imperfection. Some have been 
formal, worldly, carnal, quarrelsome among them- 
selves, cruel to those who differ from them, and 
heartlessly neglectful of the lost world and of their 
duty to save it. Some have shown a Christian 
spirit in one direction while in another their atti- 
tude and influence have been infernal. Other 
churches have truly accepted Christ as their head 
and have tried to be loyal to him, so that their 
failures have been due to ignorance and weakness. 
Now, if there is any divine leaven at all in one of 
these churches, its tendency is to leaven the whole 
lump. It becomes more Christian, there is more 
love among the brethren, there is more knowledge 
of things divine, and more zeal to do the work of 



HOW IT GROWS 43 

Christ in the world. And this perfecting and de- 
velopment of a church is part of the growth of 
the kingdom. We speak of " the Christian na- 
tions " because in certain countries Christianity is 
the prevailing religion ; but, in reality, the world 
has never seen a Christian nation, a nation whose 
government, laws, customs, moral standards, rela- 
tions to other nations, and treatment of them truly 
and adequately represented the mind of Christ. 
Some nations are more nearly Christian than 
others, and some are far more nearly Christian 
than they were a century ago, and this gradual 
permeation of a nation's life with Christian prin- 
ciple and sentiment is part of the growth of the 
kingdom. 

The intensive growth cannot be considered wholly 
apart from the extensive. As we have already 
noted, when the divine life approaches perfection 
in an individual or a society it has power to impart 
itself to those without it, and thus promote ex- 
tensive growth. 

The two parables cited illustrate, severally, these 
two kinds of growth, and it is interesting to note 
the distinction, but the really important fact is that 
in both our Lord teaches that his kingdom is to 
grow. He spoke them to encourage his disciples. 
And he wanted them to learn that the kingdom 
would not come suddenly, by a mighty revolution, 
nor by leaps and bounds, but by a gradual process 
of extension and improvement. 



44 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

This great truth is more plainly taught by the 
parable of the Growing Grain. This is given by 
Mark alone and is as follows : 

So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed 
upon the earth; and should sleep and rise night and day, 
and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not 
how. The earth beareth fruit of herself; first the blade, 
then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. But when the 
fruit is ripe, straightway he sendeth forth the sickle, 
because the harvest is come (Mark 4:26-29). 

This parable is sometimes interpreted as though 
the purpose of it were to set forth the mystery of 
life and growth. The words " he knoweth not 
how " are supposed to be the key of it. This is 
certainly a great and important truth. The nature 
of life is an insoluble mystery. No one has yet 
been able to give an adequate definition of it. No 
one can tell definitely why a seed grows and a 
grain of sand does not. Nevertheless, we know 
that life is a reality. We know there is a differ- 
ence between dead things and living beings. The 
farmer " knoweth not how " his seed grows, but he 
confidently expects it to grow and to pass through 
the various stages of maturity. He knows when 
his plants are alive and when they are dead. The 
spiritual life is even more mysterious, but we may 
not, on that account, deny its reality. Jesus said 
that the work of the Holy Spirit in imparting it 
no man can understand; at the same time it is a 
real work, and wonderful in its results. A vast 



HOW IT GROWS 45 

re?lm of truth opens before us here, suggested by 
this parable, and it would be fascinating to explore 
it as far as possible; but it is not the central truth 
of the parable. It is, rather, a secondary or inci- 
dental truth, suggested for the sake of emphasizing 
the main truth. 

The main fact presented here is that a seed grows 
according to its own law and it is impossible to 
change that law. One cannot make a grain of 
wheat spring up, mature, and bear fruit in an hour, 
no matter what efforts he may put forth. The 
magician or fakir pretends to make a plant grow 
from a seed and blossom in a few minutes, and so 
deceives our senses as to make it seem that he 
does it; but we know very well that, in reality, 
it is an illusion. So sure is the farmer that the 
seed must have its time that, having sown it, he 
sleeps and rises night and day — that is, gives it no 
attention, but goes about other business, confident 
that, in due time, nature will produce the harvest. 
He is not indifferent ; his hopes are bound up in that 
growing grain, but he knows that he cannot hasten 
its growth. When the time comes for action he is 
ready for action, but he will not send forth the 
reapers prematurely. 

So is the kingdom of heaven on earth, whether 
it be in the individual life, in a community, in a 
nation, or in the world at large. Christian growth 
is not steady and uniform. There are crises in 
every Christian experience when we seem to make 



46 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

great progress in a single day, and there are years 
when we seem to stand still or even to retrograde. 
Such variations find their counterpart and illustra- 
tions in the growth of grain. A season of drought 
may bring it to a standstill for many days; then 
copious showers and warm sunshine make it spring 
upward with amazing rapidity. But the transfor- 
mation of character, the attainment of holiness, is 
a slow process, and goes on in most Christians more 
uniformly than they think. The crises are culmi- 
nating hours for which long preparation has been 
made by the Spirit and the providence of God. 

Men are so constituted that improvements in 
communities and nations can be made only by 
slow growth. Even a church, a society all of 
whose members are supposed to be Christians, 
rises slowly from imperfection to a more perfect 
state. But a community or nation is necessarily 
a mixed society, and the wicked retard the good 
which the righteous would promote. The kingdom 
of heaven on earth is subject to the laws of the 
human nature. As the farmer casts his seed into 
the ground, so the gospel of the kingdom and the 
power of the Spirit are flung into human society, 
and there they must work according to the condi- 
tions they find. They must first take effect upon 
the souls of individuals, producing in them Christ- 
like character, and then manifest their power in 
ennobling the ideas, the laws, the customs, the litera- 
ture, the art, and the institutions of society. 



HOW IT GROWS 47 

An attempt to force the growth by some 
other method is as vain as the magician's effort to 
make a plant grow in an hour. A few onlookers 
may be fooled, but in the end there is no good 
result. When Constantine's decrees made Chris- 
tianity the State religion of the Roman Empire 
its friends thought it had achieved a wonderful 
triumph; but judicious students of history now 
realize that it retarded rather than promoted the 
progress of the kingdom. Charlemagne conquered 
the Saxons and forced them in droves to receive 
the ordinance of baptism, and thought in so doing 
that he was advancing the kingdom, but in reality 
he was perverting and hindering it. The Puritans 
in England and New England thought to estab- 
lish a Christian nation by depriving the ungodly of 
citizenship and forcing rules of conduct upon all; 
but the attempt was futile, and, when they saw its 
futility, they returned to the legitimate business of 
Christians, the formation of holy character in indi- 
viduals and the generation of righteous public sen- 
timent. 

The plant grows according to its own law, 
and he who meddles with that law, however pure 
his motives may be, does harm rather than good. 
The different stages — the leaf, the ear, and the 
mature grain — must follow in their proper order. 
No community passes by a single leap from the 
wickedness of the world to the holiness of heaven. 
The prophet's faith foresaw a time when a nation 



48 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

should " be born in a day," but not a time when 
it should grow to maturity in a day. Such a day 
will never come. If every person in China could 
be soundly converted to Christ to-morrow it would 
take a hundred years for China to become a Chris- 
tian nation. They would bring with them into the 
kingdom results of thirty centuries of paganism, and 
to shake them off and transform themselves into a 
Christian State in one century would be an achieve- 
ment more wonderful than any the world has yet 
seen. In this parable Jesus said to his disciples in 
effect: " Never despair, be hopeful it will grow; but, 
at the same time, be patient, wait, give it time, and 
the kingdom will appear in full maturity." 

For the sake of clearness we may epitomize in 
a few sentences the teaching of our Lord in these 
three parables. The kingdom of heaven will grow 
from a small and insignificant beginning to world- 
wide extension and power. It will have both ex- 
tensive and intensive growth, the former consist- 
ing of additions to the number of Christ's disciples 
with their powers and possessions, and the latter 
meaning the perfection of individuals and commu- 
nities in the Christian life. This growth will be 
according to established laws, which no servant of 
Christ should try to pervert or disregard, and, 
human nature being what it is, no one should ex- 
pect the sudden perfecting of the kingdom. 

As already intimated, there may be crises in this 
progress. They are the way-marks of history and 



HOW IT GROWS 49 

worthy of careful consideration. Some of them 
are the destruction of Jerusalem, indicating the 
divine purpose to abolish once for all the Jewish 
system of worship; the Reformation under Savona- 
rola, Huss, Wycliffe, Luther, Zwingli, and Knox, 
which was like a second conversion of Christendom 
from paganism ; the Puritan movement in England, 
which remarried morality and religion, and the mod- 
ern revival of interest in foreign missions, which 
is bringing a neglectful church back to its primary 
duty. They indicated stages of growth, but none 
of them meant the consummation of the kingdom or 
the end of the world. There will be similar crises 
in the future, but let no one suppose that they will 
signify that the Lord is about to finish his redemp- 
tive and transforming work for the race. The 
kingdom grows, slowly, gradually, we "know not 
how," but we may be sure that it grows and will 
fill the earth. 

A brief glance at the relation of the rate of 
growth to the right use of the appointed means for 
the promotion of the kingdom must complete our 
discussion of this subject. No one should infer 
from what has been said that the progress of the 
kingdom cannot be accelerated by the diligent and 
faithful use of the proper means. Going back to 
our Lord's illustrations from the mustard and the 
wheat, we may remind ourselves that back of the 
growth of the plants are the preparation of the soil 
and the planting of the seed. These are the human 



50 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

factors. Paul plants and Apollos waters. And it 
is possible for the farmer to cultivate a wider area 
and sow more seed. The growth of the plant is 
according to its own law, but the quantity of the 
seed and the size of the harvest are not divinely 
limited. 

Christ has ordained that human effort shall have 
a part in the growth of the kingdom. This effort 
is to be put forth along certain lines prescribed by 
the King. To secure growth of the extensive sort 
he commanded the preaching of the gospel to them 
that are lost. His servants are to go everywhere 
proclaiming the good news of salvation. In the 
words of our Lord himself, they are to " make dis- 
ciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the 
name of the Father and of the Son and of the 
Holy Ghost" (Matt. 28: 19). In the graphic lan- 
guage of Mark the commission begins : " Go ye into 
all the world and preach the gospel to the whole 
creation" (Mark 16:15). 

It is hardly necessary for us to consider at length 
what is meant by the " gospel " and by " preach- 
ing." The gospel assumes that men are alienated 
from God, blind servants of Satan, depraved, 
wicked, lost, and comes to them as " glad tidings," 
as the " good news " that God loves them, that 
he has given his Son to die for their sins, that 
the Son lives and offers them eternal life, that he 
is the Deliverer from bondage, sight to the blind, 
food for the hungry, water for the thirsty, rest 



HOW IT GROWS 51 

for the weary, strength for the aspiring, and wis- 
dom for the perplexed. The gospel sets him forth 
as all that the soul needs to enable it to find God 
and to live in him a holy, happy, and useful life. 
It includes the offer of heaven to those who repent 
and believe, but it means much more than that. 
It is sometimes spoken of as " the gospel of the 
kingdom/' and that implies that it is the " good 
news " of " a new earth wherein dwelleth right- 
eousness. " It is the gospel of human brotherhood, 
as well as of reconciliation to God. Precious as 
the gospel is, great as is the world's need of it, and 
imperative as is our Lord's command to preach it, 
it must be confessed that during a large part of 
its history the professed servants of Christ have 
been strangely and criminally neglectful of this 
work. 

The reasons for this neglect are many and 
various. During some periods they have forgotten 
the gospel and turned aside to force and political 
intrigue and forms and ceremonies. Losing their 
sense of its value and losing faith in the divine 
promise to make it " the power of God unto sal- 
vation," they almost ceased to proclaim it. Some- 
times they have been so busy contending over mat- 
ters of doctrine and church government that they 
have had little thought for the lost world and its 
need of the gospel. Sometimes they have been 
strangely obsessed with false notions about the 
relation of human effort to the Lord's redeeming 



52 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

work and have thought they could leave it all to 
him. Again, they have thought that pagans were 
incapable of receiving the word of God, and be- 
coming true Christians, thus showing that they have 
lost confidence in their King. In modern times 
many professing Christians neglect the work of 
evangelization because they are selfish, worldly, 
covetous, cowardly, or unbelieving. This alone 
can account for the fact that in our most evangel- 
ical churches not more than one member in ten 
takes any real interest in the proclamation of the 
gospel to the pagan world and very little in the 
proclamation of it to their lost friends and neigh- 
bors. We ask why the extensive growth of the 
kingdom is so slow — why in nearly twenty cen- 
turies it has not become world-wide. The reason 
is to be found in the neglect of the King's subjects 
to use their power and opportunities to preach the 
gospel. 

The intensive growth of the kingdom is also 
dependent upon human effort. The main provision 
for this is stated by our Lord in the command, 
" teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 
I commanded you " (Matt. 28: 20). This is an im- 
portant function of the regular ministry, but 
others may engage in it. Paul wrote to Timothy, 
holding at that time the important pastorate of the 
church at Ephesus : " The things which thou hast 
heard from me among many witnesses, the same com- 
mit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach 






HOW IT GROWS 53 

others also"( 2 Tim. 2:2). The meaning of this 
seems to be that Timothy was to select from the 
members of his church competent men who should, 
after having been themselves carefully instructed, 
teach groups of other members not so far advanced 
in knowledge of Christian doctrine and life. They 
would fill substantially the same office as our mod- 
ern Bible-class teacher. In the letter to the 
Ephesians Paul writes of " pastors and teachers " 
in a way to indicate that both functions might be 
fulfilled by the same person. In some conditions, 
for example, in pioneer missionary work, evan- 
gelists would be obliged to teach their own converts. 

It is evident that the King emphasized the im- 
portance of teaching and made abundant provision 
for it. Now this teaching may be much or little, 
faithful or false, integral or fragmentary, careless 
or painstaking; and when the teaching is perfect, 
obedience to it may be partial or complete. 

During long periods in the history of Christianity 
there has been very little teaching of any of the 
precepts of Christ. At other times, at least in some 
divisions of the church, the teaching has consisted 
almost wholly of theological doctrine, as though a 
correct creed were the only essential. There has 
been a great deal of false teaching, the opinions 
of men being substituted for the words of Christ. 
Nearly always the teaching has been fragmentary 
and one-sided. For example, much of the instruc- 
tion has seemed to proceed upon the assumption 



54 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

that Christianity consists wholly in our being right 
with God, while the social side of our religion, the 
side which makes it just as essential for us to" be 
right with our fellow-men, has been generally 
neglected. This accounts in part, if not wholly, for 
the slight influence which Christianity has had in 
the past upon social, industrial, commercial, and 
national life. 

It is evident that the intensive growth of the 
kingdom may be accelerated or retarded by our 
efforts or our neglect. Both personal and com- 
munal growth will depend upon the quality and 
amount of teaching the disciples receive and upon 
their attitude toward the truth when they have 
learned it. 

There are also divine means of promoting the 
growth of the kingdom. The spiritual life with 
which it starts in every soul is from God and 
came down from heaven in the person of Jesus 
Christ. " In him was life, and the life was the 
light of men " (John 1:4). "I am come that they 
might have life, and that they might have it more 
abundantly" (John 10:10). "I give unto them 
eternal life " (John 10:28). This life is imparted 
to the soul through the operation of the Holy 
Spirit. It is not left to itself, but is fostered and 
developed by the same Spirit. He is our enlight- 
ener, revealing to us the truth as it is in Christ and 
giving us insight and power to apprehend spiritual 
things. He is our helper, enabling us to resist 



HOW IT GROWS 55 

temptation and to achieve success in Christian life 
and effort. He is our sanctifier, cleansing us from 
the pollution of sin and building us up in true 
holiness by immediate exercise of his power as 
he dwells in us. But this work of the Spirit in 
transforming disciples into the likeness of Christ is 
in a measure subject to the will of man; else why 
are we warned not to " resist/' nor to " quench," 
nor to " grieve " the Spirit ? We are always free 
to disregard the conditions of growth, whether the 
means of growth be divine or human. Thus we 
may retard or accelerate the progress of the 
kingdom. 

The power and grace of God are exercised in 
evangelization. As the word is preached, the Holy 
Spirit alone can convict of sin, reveal to sinners 
their need of a Saviour, and present the dying 
and risen Christ as able to supply that need. He 
is always willing and more than willing to work 
in saving the lost; and yet, so far as we know, he 
works only in connection with the proclamation of 
the gospel. That intensive growth of the kingdom 
which consists in an ever-increasing loyalty of the 
subjects to their King must keep pace with the 
extensive growth; or the growth will not be solid 
and lasting, and thus the divine power in redemp- 
tion is in a measure limited by the human will. 
God will always do his part. He is ready to 
answer the prayer, " Thy kingdom come." If the 
seed is sown he will make it grow and pass through 



56 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

the various stages to maturity and a bountiful 
harvest. "I planted, Apollos watered; but God 
gave the increase. . . For we are God's fellow- 
workers " (i Cor. 3 : 6, 9). 

If the power is of God and he works for the 
world's redemption why is not the growth of the 
kingdom more rapid? Human unbelief, selfish- 
ness, and self-will limit the application of divine 
grace and the exercise of divine power. The great 
weakness of medieval and modern Christians has 
been that they have not claimed and used as they 
might the power of the Holy Spirit, both in evan- 
gelization and in the development of character. 
But in spite of all the imperfections of our work 
the kingdom grows and will grow till it fills the 
earth. Jesus taught his disciples never to despair, 
always to hope, though the growth might seem 
slow. At the same time we are under obligation 
to accelerate its growth by a faithful use of the 
right means. 



V 

THE CODE 

EVERY nation has laws for the government 
of its people. These laws define the rela- 
tions between the ruler and his subjects or between 
the State and its citizens. They also define the 
relations of the subjects or citizens to one another 
prohibiting offenses and prescribing duties. Where 
the government is despotic the laws are few and 
express mainly the will of the sovereign. As lib- 
erty increases and the people take a larger part in 
their own government the number of laws becomes 
larger and the laws of our Nation and its States fill 
many volumes. The laws of a free people express 
the will of the governed and are framed by mutual 
agreement. It has been found that personal lib- 
erty must be restricted within the limits of due 
regard for the rights of others. In order that a 
law may be of value it must include a proper pen- 
alty for its violation. 

As a rule, codes are of slow growth. In a prim- 
itive state laws are few and simple, but as civiliza- 
tion advances and becomes more complex new laws 
are framed for new conditions, and old laws that 
are no longer suitable are modified or repealed. 

57 



58 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Often in this process of growth or multiplication 
the laws of a nation have been allowed to become 
loose, unorganized, and contradictory; and then 
some ruler who is also a statesman, or a conven- 
tion of the people gathers them into a systematic 
and orderly code. The tendency of modern gov- 
ernments is to make too many laws, and the codes 
of most nations are vast and complicated. 

The kingdom of heaven has its laws expressing 
the will of the King, but there is one general law 
which includes them all. The rest are but specifi- 
cations under this great law. "A new law I give 
unto you," said the King, for thus is the word 
fairly translated, " that ye love one another " (John 
13:34). In what sense is this law new? Inter- 
preters have found great difficulty in answering 
this question because the Mosaic law contains the 
command, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy- 
self " (Lev. 19:18). The newness is not in the 
extent of love required, for as the law is here stated 
it does not go beyond one's fellow-Christians. 
Some have thought that the newness is in the 
nature of the love, that it is the peculiar love which 
disciples of Christ feel for one another which is 
here required. Of course such love had never 
been known in the world before and it could be 
exercised only by those who should receive the 
life and power of Christ. But this by no means 
exhausts the meaning of the word. The novelty of 
the law of love as Christ gave it lies mainly in the 



THE CODE 59 

universality of its application to the conduct of 
life. In this respect it is unprecedented. There 
is no sign in the Old Testament nor in any other 
writing that before Jesus any teacher of ethics 
made love the all-inclusive law for the regulation 
of conduct and the all-sufficient motive of every 
choice and action. That is precisely what he did, 
and in so doing proved himself the most profoundly 
philosophic teacher the world has known. His dis- 
ciples have been slow to apprehend his purpose 
and yet slower to fulfil it; the world has neither 
apprehended nor accepted it; it is therefore incum- 
bent upon those who have gained some inkling of 
it to give his plan the fullest possible exposition 
and the warmest possible advocacy. 

Our first effort will be to show how universal 
he made this new law. It governs the relations 
between the King and his subjects. The law he 
gave was " as I have loved you that ye also love 
one another" (John 13:34). A little later in his 
ministry he added : "As the Father hath loved me, 
so have I loved you " (John 15:9). He proved 
his love for us by his ministry, by his sacrificial 
death, by his high-priestly intercession, by the gift 
of eternal life, by the gift of the Spirit, by being our 
helper, and by all his works in our behalf as we 
day by day live in him. His demand for our love 
is very emphatic. " He that loveth father or 
mother more than me is not worthy of me; and 
he that loveth son or daughter more than me is 



60 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

not worthy of me " (Matt. 10: 37). And he makes 
it very plain that the love he requires is not mere 
sentimentality, but a love that leads to the dedi- 
cation of all our powers to his service. " He that 
hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is 
that loveth me : and he that loveth me shall be loved 
of my Father, and I will love him, and will mani- 
fest myself to him" (John 14:21). Such is the 
general tone of his teaching on the relation be- 
tween himself and his followers. It is all love. 

That was certainly a new idea. It had not been 
expected of kings that they would love their sub- 
jects and it had never been the fashion for them 
to show such love. In the Old Testament there is 
no sign that love of this sort had ever been thought 
of by kings or subjects. When the Lord ap- 
peared to Solomon at the beginning of his reign 
and gave him his choice of gifts, the best he could 
ask was " wisdom and knowledge," and the Lord 
approved and applauded his choice. Probably 
that was as high as human nature in the shape of 
a king could reach. That he should have asked 
for love to his subjects would have been too much 
to expect. All the commands and precepts to 
other rulers are to the effect that they should be 
just and fair in their government. Concerning 
that world whose life is not reflected in the Scrip- 
tures Jesus said, " Ye know that the rulers of the 
Gentiles lord it over them" (Matt. 20:25), and 
history more than justifies that statement. They 



THE CODE 6 1 

have, with rare exceptions, acted on the assump- 
tion that they held their positions for the express 
purpose of lording it over their people. They 
have not combated the idea that a king should 
give his people love and service; they have never 
thought of it. In this respect our King is unique 
and his love proved for us, since he also has wis- 
dom and power, and makes us sure that he will rule 
his people with regard solely for their highest inter- 
est. This is the ground on which he claims their 
loyalty. 

It is a new thing for subjects to love their king. 
In the kingdoms of this world they have generally 
feared him; they have been trained, generation 
after generation of them, in the belief that it was 
a crime to be disloyal to him ; sometimes they have 
had a kind of devotion to him and enthusiasm for 
him as representing their cause or their country; 
occasionally they have been able to respect and 
honor the man as well as the office, but very rarely 
have they loved him. More often he has been 
hated by his subjects, as tyrants and oppressors 
deserve to be hated, and has preserved his throne 
and his life by the sleepless vigilance of those em- 
ployed to guard his person. But our King has no 
subjects who do not love him. Such a subject 
would be inconceivable, since love for the King is 
made by himself the essential condition of admis- 
sion to the kingdom. He demands our supreme 
love, he deserves it, and he gets it. 



62 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

The reasons for putting our relations to him on 
this basis are obvious. Supreme love to him makes 
obedience to his commands easy and spontaneous. 
" If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments. ,, 
Obedience is both a test of love and an outgrowth 
of love. Supreme love to Christ makes labor for 
the advancement of his kingdom a delight and 
sacrifice for his sake a joy. Love alone can en- 
able one to deny himself, to take up his cross daily, 
and to follow Christ. In his heaviest labors and 
severest trials the true subject can say with Paul, 
" the love of Christ constraineth me" (2 Cor. 5: 
14), for the consciousness of his great love for 
us kindles responsive love in us until we rejoice in 
suffering for his sake. The alabaster cruse of 
selfishness is broken and the precious ointment of 
a redeemed and consecrated life is poured out upon 
him when love swells in our hearts. Love is in- 
sight, and by this power alone can we understand 
Jesus and enter into sympathy with him in his 
plans and labors for humanity. Love will keep us 
in fellowship with him and so we shall grow into 
his likeness. Ah, truly, Jesus displayed supreme 
wisdom when he made love the basis of his rela- 
tions with his subjects. 

Love is also the law by which the relations of 
subjects of the kingdom to one another are to be 
controlled and directed. "A new law I give unto 
you, that ye love one another." Other teaching of 
Jesus implies that this love is not limited to the 



THE CODE 63 

Christian brotherhood, but should be extended to 
all men : " But I say unto you, Love your enemies. 
. . For if ye love them that love you, what reward 
have ye ? Do not even the publicans the same ? " 
(Matt. 5:44, 46.) However we may interpret this 
and however such love may differ from that which 
Christians feel for one another, it is plain that love is 
to control all our purposes and actions in our rela- 
tions to others. The King has made it the general 
law for the government of his kingdom on earth. 

The reasons for this do not lie on the surface, 
but they can be discovered. The law of love 
supersedes all prohibitive legislation because, as 
Paul says, " Love worketh no ill to his neighbor ; 
love therefore is the fulfilment of the law " (Rom. 
13: 10). Most of the Mosaic laws and most laws 
of human enactment are prohibitive. Men are so 
prone to injure others in person or in property or 
in rights and privileges, that our law-books are 
full of " Shalt nots." Murder, assault, robbery, 
theft, fraud, deceit, oppression, slander, abuse, 
neglect, and many other forms of injury are for- 
bidden under appropriate penalties. Almost as 
numerous as these personal wrongs are the injuries 
which the wicked or the careless may do to society, 
to the community, or to the State, and which are 
forbidden by law. Our statute-books are a sad 
commentary on human depravity. They indicate 
that in his social relations man's greatest need is to 
be protected from his fellow-men. 



64 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

But for him who receives and obeys the law of 
love all this prohibitive legislation is swept away. 
So long as he loves his fellow-man he can do him 
no intentional harm. He will not wrongfully de- 
prive him of life, or property, or opportunity, or 
reputation, or happiness. He will not entice him 
into evil ways nor pierce his heart through those 
he loves. A moment's thought will show how this 
applies to every human relation. When the mem- 
bers of a family truly love one another some do 
not increase the burdens of others by neglecting 
their own duties ; they do not nag or scold or brow- 
beat one another; they do not trample upon one 
another's rights because in the home they can do 
it with impunity. If I truly love my neighbor I 
do not waylay and shoot him ; I do not set his house 
on fire; I do not steal his unprotected property; 
I do not cheat him in a bargain; I do not tempt 
him to engage in any evil practice or to form a 
vicious habit; I do not malign him or publish 
abroad his faults. I do not flirt with his wife or 
try to get her away from him. I do not turn his 
children against him or entice them into evil ways. 
I do not interfere with the free exercise of any of 
his rights. 

If a man's life is controlled by love he is a 
brother of all women except his own wife and 
daughters. If a woman's life is controlled by love 
she does not tempt any man from the path of vir- 
tue; she does not make her husband's life hard by 



THE CODE 65 

extravagance and frivolity; she is not contemptu- 
ous or cruel to women in humbler circumstances 
than her own, not even to fallen women; she does 
not stab with her tongue the hearts of her ac- 
quaintances. If I love my fellow-men I will not 
engage in any kind of business that will do them 
injury by gratifying their unholy appetites and pas- 
sions. One who loves another can in no way 
tempt that other to do himself harm. If one loves 
his fellow-men as Jesus requires, he cannot look 
with contempt upon any man, no matter what his 
race or color or condition may be. It will be seen 
at once that the prohibitions of love do away with 
all the crimes and wrongs wicked or selfish or care- 
less men perpetrate upon their fellow-men. 

But love is positive and the well-doing which 
grows out of it is more important and more worthy 
of discussion than its prohibitions. When we love 
others we do them all the good we can. Where 
love prevails there is no need of laws requiring the 
performance of duties. Consider what it would 
mean in all human relations. Husband and wife 
would each strive to make the burden of the other 
as light as possible, to cheer each other with words 
of sympathy and praise, to do acts of kindness 
that would express their love, and to make each 
other happy and good. Parents would labor and 
sacrifice to provide for the physical, mental, moral, 
and religious needs of their children, not indulging 
them as do the weak and sentimental, not tyran- 



66 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

nizing over them as do the selfish and hard, but 
training and disciplining them that they may be- 
come lovers of their King and efficient workers in 
the kingdom. Children brought under this law 
would not consider it irksome to honor and obey 
their parents and would think of the happiness of 
those to whom they are so heavily indebted. 

If I love my neighbor, I shall not only abstain 
from doing him harm, but shall do him positive 
good. Love is an active principle; it is not proved 
and manifested by neglect. If he is not a Christian 
I shall try to lead him to Christ, and I can do him 
no greater favor; if he is ignorant I shall teach 
without humiliating him; if he is poor through his 
own fault I shall try to show him a better way; if 
his poverty is not his fault I will try to find him 
more remunerative employment or to put profit- 
able business in his way; if he is in trouble I shall 
minister to him according to my ability; if I sell 
him property I shall not take from him more than 
it is worth; if I buy from him I shall pay him full 
value for what he sells; if I see his life, property, 
reputation, or family in danger I shall protect him 
to the full extent of my power; I shall judge all 
his conduct with charity and praise him when he 
does well. 

If I love my employer, as I must under this 
law, I shall give him fair work for my wages 
and more if I can without injury to myself. If I 
love my employee, I shall pay him as large wages 



THE CODE 67 

as my business will warrant. I shall, so far as 
possible, protect him from accident and disease and 
all physical injury. I shall take an interest in the 
social, moral, and religious welfare of himself and 
his family and do what I can to promote it, and I 
shall treat him as a man, having equal rights with 
myself. If two men who love each other are com- 
petitors in production, manufacturing, transporta- 
tion, or trade, each will strive to help the business 
of the other so far as he can without injuring his 
own. " Love worketh no ill to his neighbor." 
" Look not every man to his own things." Love 
sweeps away all caste, all class distinctions, all as- 
sumptions of superiority on the grounds of birth 
or wealth or position. Love is courtesy, kindness, 
humility, willingness to serve, and no person who 
loves another can humiliate him or rob him of his 
rights or narrow his privileges. In a kingdom of 
love there must be absolute democracy among the 
subjects. Whatever tends to create or maintain an 
aristocracy, an inequality of privilege and power, 
is antichristian. " Let the brother of low degree 
glory in his high estate : and the rich in that he is 
made low " (James 1 : 9, 10) ; that is, that both are 
put upon one level, for love is greater than pride 
and arrogance, and a man may well rejoice who 
has gained it. 

If one is controlled by love he will do all he 
can to make good conditions and circumstances 
for his fellow-men. This is Christian love in 



68 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

the form of public spirit. It is the love which 
moves us to improve the social condition of our 
community, State, or nation. It makes one feel that 
he does not live unto himself alone, but that in 
being a good man he makes a better world. It in- 
cites one to the support of all good institutions like 
the family, the church, the school, the university, 
the hospital, and the public library. It makes one 
a good citizen, a man who votes for good law- 
makers, faithful executives, and just judges. He 
who loves his fellow-man cannot be indifferent tc the 
welfare of his State or nation, because he sees how 
large a part civil government plays in the progress 
of humanity. 

Christian love is broad in its application. The 
patriotism of a true follower of Christ is not the 
kind which makes us hate or despise other nations 
or desire that we may outdo or conquer them; 
it is rather that love of country which desires and 
seeks the highest good of our own country while 
at the same time we rejoice in the progress and 
prosperity of others. It is that love of our own 
nation which enables us to see its evils and strive 
to remove them, to see its good and labor to 
foster it. 

These examples of the workings of the law of 
love are sufficient to make clear our Saviour's plan 
and purpose when he established it as the all- 
inclusive law of his kingdom. Would an honest 
and thorough effort to obey it leave one free to 



THE CODE 69 

care properly for his own interests? Our Lord 
said, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
That implies that we may love ourselves ; that, 
indeed, self-love is a duty. Every man's first re- 
sponsibility is for his own soul. He can care for 
that as no other can. He must care for it because 
no other can. His own moral and spiritual nature 
he must cultivate to the utmost. When he comes 
to intellectual or esthetic culture there may be con- 
flict between his own needs and his obligations to 
others. For example, a young man may be obliged 
to forego the advantages of a university course in 
order to do his duty by his parents, and a mother 
may have to give up reading and art and even 
social privileges that she may care properly for 
her children. Certainly one may provide for his 
own bodily needs; if he does not, some one else 
must. It is reported that some disciples of Tolstoy 
work without compensation on the lands of others, 
receiving food and clothing as they may be needed 
from any one who chooses to give them, thinking 
that they are thus obeying the law of service. This 
is altruism run mad. It is a surrender of personal 
rights for which there is no demand in the Chris- 
tian law of love. If generally practised it would 
tend to social and industrial confusion. 

The necessity of making a broad application of 
the law of love does not free one from the obliga- 
tion to provide for his own family. This primary 
obligation rests upon the fact that the family is a 



yo IF CHRIST WERE KING 

divine institution, and God has made parents re- 
sponsible for the welfare of their children. This 
law is written in the book of nature and has never 
been repealed. 

Self-love must not be confused with selfishness. 
God never requires of us any sacrifice or any service 
which is not consistent with self-love. In fact, the 
ability to love and serve and sacrifice is the high- 
est good we can gain, and the more we acquire of 
such ability the more truly are we blessed and 
prospered. 

Is the law of love workable in a world of selfish- 
ness and sin? It has never yet been tried so ex- 
tensively that we can answer from observation and 
experience. We certainly ought not to reject it as 
an impracticable law till we have given it a fair 
trial. There are at least two reasons why men 
fear it. One is their natural selfishness. The 
other is their failure to understand its workings. 
Selfishness, enmity, strife, revenge, competition, 
emulation, have so long and so universally prevailed 
in the world that men seem to think that political, 
social, and business life cannot go on without them. 
They seem to think that if any one undertook to 
live by the law of love he would speedily become 
the prey of evil-minded people and be destroyed or 
forced to lead a miserable life. They feel that it 
might work very well in heaven, where everybody 
is good, but that it would not work at all in " this 
present evil world." Even the disciples of Christ 



THE CODE 71 

feel that they must wait till the world is better 
before they dare try it as a general law of life. 

In subsequent chapters of this book we shall try to 
elucidate this problem and to show how the law of 
love will work in the different departments of human 
life. But it is desirable to say at this point that we 
ought to try and understand the law and its work- 
ings. According to this law, in everything we do 
that affects in any way our fellow-men we are to 
consider their welfare. This enables us to inter- 
pret some of our Lord's teaching that otherwise 
seems puzzling. For example, Jesus says, " Give 
to him that asketh thee " (Matt. 5 : 42). Does that 
mean that I am to give money to a habitual drunkard 
when I expect he will use it to buy drinks? Does 
it mean that I am to put a revolver into the hand 
of a man who has a purpose of murder in his heart, 
but is without a weapon ? Does it mean that parents 
are to give things injurious to their children just 
because they ask for them? Nothing of the kind. 
How, then, am I to interpret it? By the law of 
love. Give when your gift will be a blessing to 
the recipient and only then ; otherwise you are not 
giving in love. 

A similar limitation must be put upon our at- 
tempts to serve others. It is possible to injure peo- 
ple by doing too much for them. We have often 
seen members of a family made selfish and lazy 
by the self-sacrificing and devoted labors of other 
members. It is easy to pauperize people and 



J2 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

destroy their self-respect by unwise gifts. Even in 
the matter of physical violence love may be vitiated 
until it becomes sentimentality. Tolstoy would 
have civil government abstain from the punish- 
ment of criminals because Jesus said, " Resist not 
evil." If we had to choose between Tolstoy's 
theory of non-resistance and Russian administra- 
tion we might prefer the former, but we are forced 
to no such alternative. Because in that country 
officials, high and low, are often criminals it does 
not follow that all criminals should go unpunished. 
Such a course would be unfair to the victims of 
crime and would surely cause the multiplication of 
criminals of all classes. 

It is plain that Jesus referred to personal mat- 
ters. His thought was : Do not let the evil of 
others provoke you to evil. Do not be revenge- 
ful. Do not retaliate when you are wronged. Bet- 
ter suffer repeated injury than to do that. Con- 
tinue to love the one who does you injury; heap 
benefits on him; perhaps you may win him from 
his evil ways. Never despair of any man. At the 
same time he warns his disciples that there are 
men who are like dogs and swine and who are to be 
treated according to their character. Christians 
are to love all men, but they are not to treat all 
alike, and if one were sure that rebuke or chastise- 
ment or deliverance to the officers of the law were 
the best thing for an offender, that would be the 
treatment which love would compel us to give him. 






THE CODE 73 

Of course, it should be understood that one 
might love others even according to the Christian 
standard and still be in need of instruction con- 
cerning his duties to them. Love is not an im- 
mediate and complete cure for ignorance. Many 
people injure others or fail to serve them as they 
might though their intentions are of the best. 
This needed instruction cannot all be given by 
parents in the home nor by the Christian teachers 
in the church nor by teachers in the schools. Some 
of it must come from the State in the form of 
wise and just legislation. One great purpose of 
good laws is to educate people of the lower moral 
orders up to the standards which the best have 
set for. themselves. Moreover, so long as there are 
people in the world who are disposed to injure 
others, prohibitive laws will be necessary. So long 
as there are people who are disposed to neglect or 
shirk their duties to others, laws of compulsion 
will be necessary. The time may never come when 
laws of either kind can be wholly abolished. But 
all civil laws of both kinds should be so framed 
as to make it clear that violations of them are evil 
and deserve punishment because they are trans- 
gressions of the divine law of love. As the king- 
dom advances and its influence becomes more per- 
vasive all offenses against our fellow-men will be 
estimated by the public mind and judged in our civil 
courts as great or small according to the degree in 
which they do violence to this great law. 



74 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

This discussion has brought us to three con- 
clusions which may be stated in a few words: 
First, Christ the King made the law of love the 
general, all-inclusive law of his kingdom. This 
law governs the relations of king and subjects 
and the relations of the subjects to one another. 
Secondly, we should not reject this law as imprac- 
ticable until we are sure we know its meaning and 
have given it a fair trial. Thirdly, we should not 
reject it because it goes counter to the selfishness 
of human nature. If God, the Creator and Ruler, 
has appointed him to be King, if he is worthy and 
if he has earned the right to rule, he must be the 
lawmaker of his kingdom. Our part is but to 
understand and obey. And a fair trial will con- 
vince the world that our King is supremely great 
as a lawgiver. 



VI 

JOY AND GLADNESS 

THE people of every nation and tribe have 
their games, sports, and other means of 
amusement and recreation. All classes and condi- 
tions, the old as well as the young, the poor as 
well as the rich, feel the need of fun and diversion. 
In this country, besides the games and sports in 
which all participate according to their taste and 
ability, thousands of men and women are engaged 
in the business of affording amusement to others 
by means of entertainments, and millions of dollars 
are invested in the business. Some of these forms 
of diversion are beneficial and elevating; others are 
baneful and degrading. There is no need that we 
should give an extended catalogue of these various 
forms of amusement; neither is it our purpose to 
discuss their character and label some " good " and 
others "bad." Just now our effort is simply to 
call attention to the almost universal and appar- 
ently insatiable desire for fun and diversion. The 
desire seems to grow stronger as civilization be- 
comes more complex and life more strenuous, and 
the man who can make the people laugh or excite 
their wonder or arouse them to a frenzy of 

75 



y6 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

enthusiasm over a " sporty " contest is the man of 
popularity and affluence. People are willing to pay 
the very highest price for exciting and sometimes 
dangerous amusements. 

The universality and strength of this desire indi- 
cate a deep need in human nature. Like every 
other desire or appetite, it is likely to be abused 
and the gratification of it carried to injurious ex- 
cess, but the desire exists. And since this is true 
it is very natural to ask what pleasure does the 
kingdom of heaven offer to its subjects? It is 
beyond question that our King wants his subjects 
to be happy. Early in his public ministry he made 
the announcement that he had been anointed by 
the Spirit to preach good tidings to the poor, to 
proclaim release to the captives, and recovering 
of sight to the blind, to bind up the broken-hearted, 
to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to pro- 
claim the acceptable year of the Lord (Luke 4: 
18, 19), or the year of jubilee. Surely this is a 
message of gladness. The Sermon on the Mount 
is his most formal statement of the nature and pur- 
poses of his kingdom and this sermon begins with 
a remarkable declaration of the conditions of 
blessedness. It is common with him to describe 
his kingdom as a " wedding " or a " great sup- 
per/' where there are feasting and social delights 
and the usual forms of entertainment like " music 
and dancing," and to invite the people to come 
into the kingdom as a rich and generous host in- 



JOY AND GLADNESS J*] 

vites favored guests to his house. Plainly his plan 
and purpose are to make his subjects happy. 

And in this he was not only loving and beneficent, 
but also truly and deeply philosophical. He saw that 
poor, depraved human hearts need a bait to entice 
them into his kingdom and offered it in this prom- 
ise of happiness. But his thought was far deeper 
than that. He calls his people to strenuous service 
and he knew that no one can do his best work 
while he is unhappy. To call out the best that is 
in one, to develop his powers, and to make him 
efficient in service he must be happy in his rela- 
tions and happy in his work. This is a great law 
of human nature. It is true even of physical labor; 
it is more true of mental toil; it is still more true 
of spiritual service; for in that the heart must be 
engaged. He who would toil long and hard and 
successfully must have a perpetual song in his 
heart. Jesus knew that better than any other " cap- 
tain of industry," and so he made abundant pro- 
vision for the happiness of his people. 

What are the pleasures of the kingdom is, there- 
fore, a legitimate inquiry. Our effort to answer 
it will be facilitated by dividing pleasures into so- 
cial and personal and considering them in that 
order. 

/. Social Pleasures of the Kingdom. 

Man is a social being. In no respect can he live 
a true human life apart from his fellows. The 



78 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

highest development of his powers — indeed any de- 
velopment worthy of the name — is impossible in 
solitude. And when he seeks amusement or diver- 
sion he finds the company of others equally essen- 
tial. There is, we believe, a game called " soli- 
taire/' but it is difficult to see how one could get 
any pleasure from it. One who would resort to 
such a game must be hard pushed for means of 
passing his time. He probably would not if com- 
panions were at hand. Man's social instincts come 
to the front and demand recognition when he is in 
pursuit of pleasure. 

i. In discussing this subject we may properly 
consider some social pleasures which have only a 
remote relation to the kingdom of heaven on earth, 
but which spring from sources which the establish- 
ment of the kingdom will not destroy. It will not 
interfere with any legitimate social pleasure. All 
means of pure and lasting happiness which the 
providence of God or the ingenuity of man has 
given us are at the disposal of subjects of the king. 
Earth has no higher joys than those of the family 
life. God " setteth the solitary in families/' and 
the kingdom of Jesus sanctifies and ennobles the 
relation. The love and trust, the kindly ministra- 
tions, the sweet associations, the sense of security, 
the community of interests, and the rest and com- 
fort of a Christian home are among the choicest 
pleasures that man can enjoy. In a home where 
there are children there should be large provision 



JOY AND GLADNESS 79 

for play, and parents may well spend considerable 
time playing with their children. 

Social life in its multitudinous forms is a great 
source of pleasure which may be enjoyed by the 
Christian if he stops short of waste of time, dis- 
sipation of energies, and promotion of vice. The 
coming of the kingdom will revolutionize many of 
our social customs, but it will increase rather than 
lessen the amount of social life. Conversation that 
is uplifting and informing; literary, historical, sci- 
entific, and sociological pursuits by people in 
groups ; or engaging in reading or music or games 
by companies may all be legitimate sources of pleas- 
ure. Organized societies, clubs, fraternities, and 
sororities, if they are not aristocratic and exclusive 
cliques, if they exist for the improvement of their 
members, and if they do not absorb time and money 
which should be used for the general good of hu- 
manity, may be sources of enjoyment not subversive 
of the principles of the kingdom. 

Sports, games, and entertainments which refresh 
the mind or recreate the body, that give pleasure 
and at the same time fit one for more and better 
work are blessings which no one should refuse to 
use within reasonable limits. They may be abused, 
as carried on among worldly people they generally 
are, and professing Christians are too often swept 
along with the world in their passion for them; 
but we are so constituted that we need them, and 
they are not to be altogether condemned and elim- 



80 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

inated because they are abused by the wicked and 
unwise. 

In all social life the law of love must dominate, 
and a faithful subject of the king can do nothing 
harmful to another. Amusements and diversions 
are not exceptions. We must not be selfish in our 
pleasures. A game or sport in which we can en- 
gage without injury to ourselves must, neverthe- 
less, be abandoned if it proves regularly to be hurt- 
ful to the moral character of others. We cannot 
attend and support any form of entertainment 
whose influence upon those who attend it is mani- 
festly bad. Otherwise " thou walkest not in love." 
In all social gatherings subjects of the King will 
seek the happiness and profit of others rather than 
their own. It is thus and only thus that the per- 
fect society is made. He who tries to make others 
give him pleasure defeats his own purpose ; he who 
contributes to the pleasure of others goes home 
happy. 

2. The kingdom itself offers social pleasures. 
The highest of these is communion with our Lord 
and Saviour. This may be a reality and should be 
a daily habit. In this connection one thinks of 
a Kempis' dialogues between the Master and the dis- 
ciple. Something like the intercourse he thus rep- 
resents ought to have a large place in every Chris- 
tian life. The statement has been published that 
Dr. Campbell Morgan has the habit of placing two 
chairs facing each other in his study, inviting Christ 



JOY AND GLADNESS 8 1 

to occupy one while he sits in the other, and thus 
they converse with each other on the great mat- 
ters of Christian doctrine, life, and work. How 
uplifting, helpful, and comforting is such fellow- 
ship ! Our great King is gracious and condescend- 
ing; the subject is honored and exalted. He admits 
us to the closest intimacy. " No longer do I call 
you servants ; for the servant knoweth not what his 
Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all 
things that I heard from my Father I have made 
known unto you" (John 15:15). The secrets of 
his kingdom, its truths, its nature, its laws, its plans, 
its relations to all phases of human life, he tells to 
his people. 

To solve the problems, to unravel the perplex- 
ities, and to decide the questions of life we need 
more than human wisdom, and he is our in- 
fallible Counselor. Our hearts fail us often — bur- 
dens and cares and temptations break down our 
courage and our hope — but we never go in vain to 
our Friend for cheer and comfort. One of the 
glorious facts prophesied concerning him was that 
in the long battle against sin and wrong and misery 
in the world, " He shall not fail nor be discouraged, 
till he have set judgment in the earth " (Isa. 42 : 4). 
With his perennial courage and strength and joy 
and hope he heartens us and enables us to go stead- 
ily and cheerfully on in the Christian course. It is 
the sweet fellowship of love. " He that loveth 
me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love 

F 



82 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

him and will manifest myself to him" (John 14: 
21). If his word is true this fellowship is a reality 
and a blessed privilege. It is the first and best of 
all the social pleasures of the kingdom. 

But there are many forms of social pleasure for 
the subjects of the kingdom in their relations with 
one another. They take great delight in public 
worship when together they lift their hearts and 
voices in prayer and praise. In the scenic repre- 
sentations of heaven which are given in The Rev- 
elation — representations intended to set forth the 
nature of the kingdom of heaven on earth as well 
as the heaven of the future — we see many great 
throngs of redeemed saints praising God. So 
highly is this privilege esteemed among the saints 
of the earth that when unjust and cruel govern- 
ments, at the instigation of pagan priests or an 
apostate church, have forbidden such gatherings 
they have been held, in defiance of human law and 
in scorn of imminent danger of death, in caves of 
the earth or in mountain fastnesses under a wintry 
sky. Such were the meetings of the early Chris- 
tians, and later of the Waldenses, of the Huguenots, 
of the Scotch Covenanters, and of the English Puri- 
tans. True Christians have always regarded it as 
a precious privilege. 

There is great pleasure in the social study of the 
word of God in classes for the purpose or in gen- 
eral meetings of a church. In such study all may 
contribute something to the general edification. 



JOY AND GLADNESS 83 

Some give light on one text and some on another, 
as the Spirit has bestowed upon them. Mind stim- 
ulates mind and all are quickened beyond their 
usual energy. Heart warms heart because of their 
common interest in the truth. 

Social gatherings for conference on matters of 
Christian experience are sources of great pleasure 
to devout and earnest souls. As they talk of their 
temptations, their struggles, and their trials on the 
one hand and of helping grace, of saving power, 
of the wonders of divine love, and of the comfort 
of the Holy Spirit on the other, their " hearts burn 
within " them, and they are welded together until 
they are as one man in Christ Jesus. From this 
sense of union and fellowship in the Christian life 
come sweet and precious joys. 

More sweet than odors caught by him who sails 
Near spicy shores of Araby the blest — 
A thousand times more exquisitely sweet 
The freight of holy feelings which we meet, 
In thoughtful moments wafted by the gales 
From fields where good men walk, 
Or bowers wherein they rest. 

There is great pleasure in united effort for the 
promotion of a worthy cause. No man is brave 
and strong enough to work on alone sturdily, cheer- 
fully, joyfully in the face of opposition and dis- 
couragement as the servants of Christ must work 
for his kingdom in this world. Even Christ felt 
the need of companionship and cooperation from 



84 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

his disciples. How the letters of Paul palpitate 
with yearning for the sympathy and prayers of 
the Christians in the churches to which he writes! 
But if the soldiers of Christ stand shoulder to 
shoulder, or march in step; if every one can truly 
say to his neighbor, " My heart is as thy heart in 
this matter," there is great joy in the conflict, though 
it be long and arduous. Nothing tends more 
strongly to make one feel that life is worth living — 
nothing feeds the soul with sweeter food — than the 
consciousness that he is devoting his energies to 
the advancement of a worthy cause. And this 
pleasure is multiplied manifold when others share 
it with us. Then it rises to the level of the very 
highest that the kingdom affords. 

These are hints concerning some of the social 
pleasures of the kingdom. It is time for us to give 
our attention to its 

77. Personal Pleasures. 

The rule laid down with regard to the enjoy- 
ment of pleasures not originating in the kingdom 
holds good in this case. It must be remembered 
that the kingdom is very broad and touches every 
phase of human life. Our King came not to de- 
stroy life, but to save it; not to mar and curtail 
life, but to broaden and deepen it. He does not 
deprive us of anything susceptible of a good use, but 
shows us how to use it. As a growing tree sends 
out its roots into a wider and wider area of soil 



JOY AND GLADNESS 85 

and gathers nutriment from it, so Jesus enables 
his disciples to appropriate all things they touch 
and transform them into means of growth and 
agents for the extension of his kingdom. Thus 
personal pleasures that might be worldly to the 
selfish heart may be sanctified to good uses and 
still remain pleasures. The intense delight that 
a cultivated mind takes in good reading is lawful. 
To live with the great authors of histories, biog- 
raphies, essays, orations, books of travel, of science, 
and of philosophy, poetry, fiction; to think their 
thoughts after them, to see with their eyes the 
scenes of the past or the pictures of the imagina- 
tion, to look upon their heroes, the " forms immor- 
tal " moving on the stage, to have one's heart 
thrilled with the memory of great deeds, and to 
revel in the beauties of language, the fitting word, 
the happy turn of phrase, the illuminating simile, 
the charming anecdote, the apt quotation, the logi- 
cal order, and the just conclusion, is a pleasure 
which few in this world surpass. Who can be- 
lieve that it is forbidden to the subjects of the 
King? 

The esthetic sense, the love of beauty, and the 
power to delight in beautiful objects is a divine 
gift. God would not have given it to us and made 
so many beautiful things to gratify it if he had 
not meant us to enjoy this source of pleasure. The 
Christian may feast his eyes upon the starry 
heavens, the sunset, the landscape, trees, flowers, 



86 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

and the exquisite plumage of birds with no fear 
that he is yielding to sensuous desires which ought 
to be curbed. With the same freedom he may de- 
light in works of art, sculpture, painting, archi- 
tecture, so long as they represent that which is 
pure and ennobling and do not pander to base pas- 
sions. The possession of esthetic sensibility and 
cultivated taste is necessary to a symmetrical and 
well-rounded character. It is not inconsistent with 
deep piety, intense moral earnestness, and devo- 
tion to the higher interests of humanity. If the 
soul is too narrow for both the esthetic must yield, 
and one is compelled " to enter into life maimed " 
(Mark 9:43); but it is a limitation imposed by 
our Lord only in cases of necessity. He wants us 
to have the largest possible life, and delight in 
beauty is a part of it. 

Much the same may be said of the pleasures of 
the ear. The world is full of delightful sounds, — 
the singing of birds, the gurgle of running water, 
the humming of insects, the laughter of children, 
the tones of those who love us; and we may enjoy 
it all. In the representations of the heavenly city 
which we have in Revelation music is gener- 
ally a prominent feature. Its primary use is to 
praise God; it is one form of worship; but there 
is no intimation that enjoyment of it is forbidden 
to any one who listens. Music is a great source 
of pleasure. Few can produce it, but multitudes 
can enjoy it. It cannot be wrong to cultivate a 



JOY AND GLADNESS 87 

taste for music, though it is a wicked waste of time 
to try to cultivate the ability to produce it where such 
ability does not exist. So far as possible all should 
learn to sing, in order that they may join in the 
praise of God. And all who have any musical sen- 
sibility at all should cultivate it, in order to enjoy 
good music. This is both a social and personal 
pleasure — perhaps more social than personal — but 
the classification is not so important as the fact that 
it is one which the subjects of the King may freely 
enjoy. Such pleasure is part of the full life he 
intends his people to have. 

But there are far greater pleasures which belong 
only to members of the kingdom. We think of 
heaven as a place, or state, of supreme blessed- 
ness, and that is according to the teaching of the 
word. At the same time we think of it as at- 
tainable only in the future world, and that is a 
mistaken view. The gospel of Jesus was, u The 
kingdom of heaven is at hand." Heaven begins 
here as soon as we enter the kingdom. It is not 
perfected in this world, but it begins and grows 
toward perfection. 

One of the personal pleasures of the kingdom is 
the enjoyment of peace. " Peace I leave with you, 
my peace I give unto you " (John 14:27), said 
Jesus. It is described by Paul as " the peace of 
God which passeth all understanding " (Phil. 4:7); 
it is beyond the comprehension of the human in- 
tellect; it cannot be described; it can be known 



88 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

only to those who experience it. And Paul adds 
that it " shall guard your hearts and your thoughts 
in Christ Jesus." This is not easy to understand. 
It is the figure of an armed guard protecting their 
leader from dangerous and disturbing foes. So 
peace, like a vigilant sentinel, keeps away from 
the heart and the thoughts all fear and worry and 
anxiety, and enables the soul to abide in tranquil- 
lity, " an image of God's own tranquillity." 

Taking a broad view of peace, we find that it 
contains several elements, to each of which it may 
be worth while to give a separate glance. There 
is, first of all, peace with God which comes from 
the consciousness of his love, of reconciliation 
through Jesus Christ, and of pardoning mercy. 
Without this peace real happiness is impossible. 
Then, there is peace with ourselves, rest from the 
torment of a guilty conscience, which comes partly 
from forgiveness of sin and partly from triumph 
over sin, but which is altogether the gift of God. 
In the natural man there is constant warfare be- 
tween desire and conscience; but when the Holy 
Spirit changes the heart and Christ comes to reign 
in the soul conscience and desire are reconciled 
and there is peace. And, finally, there is peace 
from fear and care and anxiety, which comes from 
restful confidence in the loving-kindness and pro- 
tecting care of our heavenly Father. It is this 
peace which " passeth understanding and guards 
the heart and the thoughts." Peace in every sense. 



JOY AND GLADNESS 89 

is a wonderful blessing which the world cannot 
know. It is a pleasure which no worldly wealth 
can purchase, no human power attain ; it is the gift 
of the King. 

Another pleasure of the kingdom is joy. " The 
kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but right- 
eousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost " 
(Rom. 14:17). Joy differs from peace in being 
more active. Peace is like a clear, quiet pool: joy 
is a bubbling fountain. Peace is a glowing fire of 
coals; joy is a dancing flame. Joy differs from 
happiness in that the latter is dependent upon cir- 
cumstances or condition, while joy is in the soul, 
and is largely, if not wholly, independent of every- 
thing external. Jesus lived a troubled life — a life 
of conflict, disappointment, persecution, sorrow, 
burden-bearing — yet he said to his disciples: 
" These things have I spoken unto you that my 
joy may be in you and that your joy may be ful- 
filled " (John 15:11). It is a divine gift, it is 
the Lord's own joy, it comes from the indwelling 
Holy Spirit, and " the joy of the Lord is your 
strength" (Neh. 8:10). There is no pleasure 
comparable to this; with this one is blessed if all 
earthly good be lost. 

The noblest pleasure of the kingdom is oppor- 
tunity. Every man feels that he ought to have a 
chance in life, a chance to make the most of him- 
self, to do fruitful labor, to achieve success, to 
attain happiness, to win the respect of his fellow- 



90 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

men and the approval of God. To wrest oppor- 
tunity like this from human oppressors or from 
unrighteous social conditions has been the strug- 
gle of the masses of humanity for centuries. 

It is safe to say that one of the great reasons 
which Jesus had for establishing the kingdom of 
heaven on earth was to give men opportunity. He 
is always calling men to higher and nobler service 
than they could possibly find for themselves. To 
the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee he said, " Come 
ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers 
of men " (Mark 1:17). Of course, he would 
make them successful. After the miraculous draft 
of fishes he said to Simon Peter, " Fear not, from 
henceforth thou shalt catch men" (Luke 5:10). 
Now, catching men for the kingdom of heaven, 
rescuing them from the slavery of Satan for the 
service of God, and turning them from a life of 
sin to a life of holiness is certainly a nobler work 
than catching fish. The incident may thus stand 
as a sign that our King will give to every subject of 
his the best possible opportunities. 

One of these will be the opportunity for growth 
and self-development. When a man is really 
awake, as soon as he becomes conscious of himself, 
he wants to do something and be somebody. Vast 
multitudes have the desire, but are without will- 
power and energy to gratify it. No one can be 
happy so long as the sad consciousness abides with 
him that he has not made himself what he ought 



JOY AND GLADNESS 9 1 

to have been and might have become. Christ 
quickens this aspiration, gives a better ideal, and, 
at the same time, imparts power to realize it. In 
his kingdom there is opportunity for study, for 
thought, for overcoming faults of character, for 
developing virtues, and for the exercise of our 
powers in noble service. These are all means of 
growth. An awakened soul finds pure and lofty 
pleasure in the consciousness of progress and asks 
no better reward for effort. 

The conviction is growing in the minds of men 
that, owing to the oppression of rulers and to bad 
social and industrial conditions, the great masses 
of humanity have not had this opportunity for self- 
development. It is also felt that it is not enough 
to put into men the desire for it nor even to give 
them moral power to realize it ; that what they need 
is better conditions, and that they can do little for 
themselves till these improved conditions are se- 
cured. On this account it is charged that Chris- 
tianity has failed to do what it promised for the 
poor and oppressed — for the disinherited classes of 
society. Whatever of truth there may be in the 
charge is due to the fact that Christians have been 
relatively too much concerned about their relations 
to God and have not given proper attention to their 
relations to their fellow-men. They have, through the 
centuries, been thinking too exclusively about get- 
ting people ready for heaven and have not thought 
as they should about bringing heaven down to earth. 



92 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Unquestionably it is true that the domestic, social, 
and industrial conditions in which one is placed 
may be so bad as seriously to hinder his self-de- 
velopment. On this two things are to be said: 
First, even in the midst of the worst conditions, 
a man with the grace of God in his heart — with 
the spiritual aspirations and the moral dynamic 
which that grace bestows — may achieve success in 
the Christian life and develop a noble Christian 
character. But few will be equal to such a task, 
because few will have faith to receive the abundant 
grace, and in bad social and economic conditions 
it is difficult to incite men to enter upon the Chris- 
tian life at all. Secondly, one great purpose for 
which Christ came to earth and laid here the foun- 
dations of the kingdom of heaven — perhaps it 
would be safe to say the chief purpose — was to 
make better social and industrial conditions, so that 
every one might have opportunity for the fullest 
and most complete self-development — intellectual 
and social culture as well as spiritual life. This 
will certainly be one result of the establishment of 
the kingdom. 

Another opportunity which Christ gives is that 
of devoting oneself to the promotion of a great 
and good cause. Nothing else does so much to 
make life worth living. There is a story that a 
young man once asked Wendell Phillips to give 
him the secret of a happy life. " Find a good cause 
that is unpopular and devote yourself to it," was 



JOY AND GLADNESS 93 

the answer. It was a profoundly wise suggestion, 
and Phillips had learned the truth of it by experi- 
ence. It was because Paul had thus devoted his 
life that he was able at the end to sing his beauti- 
ful swan-song: "I have fought the good fight, I 
have finished the course, I have kept the faith, 
henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, 
shall give" (2 Tim. 4:7, 8). Here is the secret 
of all happiness. One must find work, work that 
he loves, work that is worth while, work in which 
he can succeed, or he will be miserable. Even on 
the lowest plane of life this is true. But any 
work of a worldly character fails to satisfy, be- 
cause it does not seem to have a worthy purpose. 
The end gained is not large enough to fill the soul. 
A weary round of manual toil merely to supply phys- 
ical needs, with no hope of anything better, makes 
life burdensome and gloomy. And yet this is the life 
to which about ninety-nine in every hundred of 
the human race have been doomed. With better 
social and industrial conditions there would be 
leisure for self-improvement and for service to hu- 
manity. But the need is deeper than any such im- 
provement could touch; it is the need that is satis- 
fied only with sustained enthusiasm for a great 
cause. To be supremely happy one must feel that 
he has made a good investment of his life. This 
is almost enough in itself to overcome every hin- 
drance to the attainment of happiness. This is the 



94 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

largest element in those sustaining forces which 
have enabled the martyrs to endure torture and 
death with smiling faces and a song in their hearts. 

Such an opportunity Jesus offers to every sub- 
ject of his kingdom. The promotion and perfec- 
tion of that kingdom are the stupendous tasks which 
he has left to his disciples. He furnishes the 
power, but they are the active agents. It has never 
been a popular cause with the world. From the 
birth of Christ the King until now men have 
sought to destroy him and to overthrow his king- 
dom in its beginnings. If there is any fight in a 
man here is his chance, though it is not a fight 
with carnal weapons; neither is it prompted by 
hatred or revenge. It is a holy war and its banner 
is love. This task calls for the exercise of the 
noblest powers given to man. In its accomplish- 
ment we must use insight, reason, courage, patience, 
generosity, kindness, gentleness, love — all that goes 
to make a good and great soul. It is in the exer- 
cise of the higher powers that we find happiness. 

We may sum it all up in a word: to be su- 
premely and steadily happy, take the opportunity 
which Christ gives to devote yourself to the great- 
est and best cause the world has known. First 
learn what it is. Try to grasp the meaning of 
the kingdom of heaven on earth. Then live for it, 
work for it, sacrifice for it, cultivate enthusiasm 
for it, concentrate your efforts on it, saying with 
Paul, u this one thing I do " ; and you will find the 



JOY AND GLADNESS 95 

greatest pleasure known to man. This, however, is 
true only of earnest souls. 

Another personal pleasure of the kingdom is 
hope. Every one knows how large a place hope 
fills in human life. It is the inspiration of all 
work. The farmer prepares the ground, sows the 
seed, and cultivates the growing plants in the hope 
of a harvest. The merchant endures the strain and 
worry and toil of business in the hope of gaining 
a competence. If the man who is the hired servant 
of others has no better hope he at least expects his 
wages. The young student toils at his studies be- 
cause he hopes that the knowledge and mental train- 
ing thus gained will give him success in the future. 
Hope saves from defeat and despair in the face 
of discouragement. No matter how dark the pres- 
ent aspect may be, one does not abandon effort so 
long as he hopes for final victory. The sustaining 
and encouraging power of hope has been illus- 
trated in every achievement requiring patience, 
courage, and steadfastness. 

Hope is a source of comfort in sorrow. When 
we are sick we hope to get well, when we are poor 
we hope for better circumstances, when our friends 
turn against us we hope to regain them or to find 
new friends. So, in calamity and disaster, " Hope 
springs eternal in the human breast," and brings 
us cheer and comfort. When hope is dead and 
despair sits brooding in the soul, only perdition and 
misery remain. 



96 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

The kingdom of heaven is preeminently a king- 
dom of hope. Every subject of it is rich in well- 
founded hopes. He hopes for complete deliverance 
from sin and for the attainment of personal holi- 
ness. He hopes for the triumphs of Christ's king- 
dom on earth. He hopes that all his toils and sac- 
rifices for Christ and his kingdom will be abun- 
dantly rewarded. When he lies down in death he 
hopes for a glorious resurrection and for an eternal 
life of blessedness with the Lord. " Which hope 
we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure 
and stedfast" (Heb. 6:19). Paul says "we are 
saved by hope" (Rom. 8:24), and we are to live 
"rejoicing in hope " (Rom. 12:12). This is the 
keynote of the Christian life. In this world we 
" shall have tribulation " ; bereavement, trouble, dis- 
appointment, pain, and sorrow will come; we have 
a long, fierce struggle with sin in ourselves and 
with the enemies of the kingdom without; but if 
we live in hope we shall rejoice in the midst of 
it all. 

Such are some of the social and personal pleas- 
ures which our loving and gracious King provides 
for his subjects, and our conclusion is that Chris- 
tians, whatever their circumstances, have a right to 
be and are expected by their Lord to be the hap- 
piest people on the earth. 



VII 

THE CHURCHES 

IT may be fairly doubted whether a more mis- 
chievous mistake was ever made by man than the 
formation of the opinion that the kingdom and the 
church are identical. This opinion has prevailed 
for centuries in the nominally Christian world and 
is now held by a large majority of those who bear 
the Christian name. Christ said very little about 
his church — there are only two references to it in 
all his recorded utterances — but spoke constantly of 
his kingdom. The word appears one hundred and 
twelve times in the Gospels. This wrong opinion 
about the church grew out of exaggerated notions 
of ecclesiastical authority and undue reliance upon 
the ordinances of the church for salvation. There 
is no warrant for it in the teaching of Jesus nor in 
the New Testament writings. There is not a word 
to indicate that the kingdom and the church are 
conterminous. The genius of Christianity, the 
nature of the kingdom, and its history in the world 
indicate plainly that there may be people in the 
kingdom who are not in the church and people in 
the church who are not in the kingdom. The 
purposes of the two are entirely different. The 
g 97 



98 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

kingdom is the end, the church is the means to 
the end. 

The mischief of confusing the kingdom and the 
church, or of making them identical, is colossal. 
We cannot discuss it here at length, but a few of 
its elements may be noted. It has been one source 
of priestly and papal arrogance which has shown 
itself in almost every human relation. One of its 
appearances has been in the relation of the church 
to its own members. They have been taught that 
they are dependent on the church for salvation, on 
its ordinances and on priestly remission, and that 
those who disbelieve the teaching of the church, or 
rebel against its authority, insure damnation to 
themselves. The church thus arrogates to itself the 
place of Christ and holds its members in bondage 
through superstitious fear, instead of retaining 
them by intelligent faith. The church has claimed 
power over the State and has sometimes been able to 
exercise it, thus becoming a great political machine 
and a tyrannical ruler of the peoples. On account 
of this undue faith in itself the church has lost its 
moral power and ceased to be either an example or 
a preacher of righteousness, being too busy main- 
taining its authority to attend to matters of that 
sort. For the same reason it has been a relentless 
persecutor of those who have dared to dispute its 
supremacy. These are a few of the gigantic evils 
that have resulted in part at least from the assump- 
tion that the kingdom and the church are identical. 



THE CHURCHES 99 

Mischief always follows when people mistake the 
means for the end. When wealth, culture, pleasure 
are considered ends in themselves and not means 
to greater usefulness or better living, deterioration 
of moral character and ruin of the life are inevi- 
table. Mere confusion of thought is the least of the 
evils of such a mistake; there will also be perver- 
sion of morals and loss of religious life. The 
church has not been exempt from this law. Its as- 
sumption that it was the end rather than the means 
has led to many evils. One has been an attempt 
to justify means to build up the church that would 
never have been thought of as means to build up 
the kingdom, such as lying, persecution, and politi- 
cal intrigue. Another has been the narrowing of 
the kingdom so as to make it relate only to the 
religious welfare of man, while the fact is, the king- 
dom is concerned with his moral, social, industrial, 
and political welfare. The kingdom affects the 
whole man in all his relations and is a far larger 
term, with wider meanings, than the church. 

It is not to be inferred that all the corruptions 
and misdoings of the church are due to this mis- 
take. Such an inference would be far beyond our 
meaning and not according to the facts. It has 
simply been one of the causes of those things which 
have darkened its history. Of course, the main 
cause has been the depravity and perversity of 
human nature. One who reads the history of the 
church is forced to the conclusion that it has been 



IOO IF CHRIST WERE KING 

far more human than divine, and that in some 
periods it has displayed human nature at its worst. 
We sympathize with Doctor Bruce when he says : 

Notwithstanding all his care, the evils dreaded by the 
Founder of the church made their appearance. Rabbinism 
reinvaded, priestcraft crept in, legalism resumed its ma- 
lign dominion in the shape of salvation by sacraments or 
by dogmatic orthodoxy, endless divisions, alienations, and 
contentions ensued, making the history of the church a 
tragic, humiliating, disenchanting tale. As in the view of 
the evils in the world we are tempted to ask, Why did 
God create man? So in the presence of the evils that 
have come into existence in the course of ecclesiastical 
history we are tempted to ask, Why did Christ create the 
church ? * 

A panoramic view of the past seems to reveal the 
professed followers of Christ putting forth stren- 
uous effort to avoid all the things that he com- 
manded and to do all the things that he prohibited, 
and using the church as the instrument for the ac- 
complishment of this twofold purpose. 

Nevertheless Christ did establish the church, and 
he must have done it with full knowledge of what 
would follow. On that notable occasion when 
Peter, speaking for the Twelve, made his great con- 
fession, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
God," Jesus replied : " Blessed art thou, Simon Bar- 
Jonah ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto 
thee, but my Father who is in heaven. And I 

1 Bruce, "The Kingdom of God," pp. 270, 271. 



THE CHURCHES IOI 

also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock I will build my church; and the gates of 
hades shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16: 
16-18). Why did he enter upon this enterprise, 
foreseeing all the consequences ? There must have 
been good reasons; we may not be able to discern 
them all, but some are obvious. First, it was nec- 
essary that the religion of Jesus should embody 
itself in a social organization. Otherwise it could 
not be perceived by the world as a social religion. 
The church, according to the striking figure of Paul, 
is the " body " of Christ, manifesting his abiding 
presence in the world. The core of essential Chris- 
tianity is love, and no impressive manifestation of 
it would be possible with Christians living in isola- 
tion. 

This necessity is still more evident when we re- 
member that it is through the body that one does 
his work. Christ does his work in the world 
through his body — the church. At least that is evi- 
dently his plan. If he has been forced to use other 
agents on account of the apostasy or unfaithfulness 
of the church, that is the loss and condemnation 
of the church. We may not suppose that he would 
allow his purposes of redemption and kingdom- 
building to be altogether defeated by a church that 
had become useless or hindering. But such a 
church would be a source of unspeakable grief to 
the Saviour and unspeakable loss to the world. 
Perhaps we should be more true to the facts were 



102 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

we to say that the " body " of Christ is always 
made up of those disciples who are loyal to him 
and his kingdom, and that he works through that 
body. But it is necessary that he should have a 
body, in order to carry on his work, and this, in 
part, accounts for his purpose to " build " his 
church. 

In the second place, it was inevitable that such 
an organization would be formed. Christianity is 
essentially a social religion. No man can live a 
Christian life apart from his fellows. When one 
is born of the Spirit and enters the kingdom of 
heaven he is impelled to associate with other dis- 
ciples as by a dominating, directing instinct. He 
finds himself in an alien, hostile world, and longs 
for fellowship with those of his kind — " Birds of 
a feather flock together." In this fellowship he 
finds comfort, strength, wisdom, and efficiency. If 
Jesus had not founded a church and still had given 
the new life to men, a church would have been 
organized. Far better that he should " build " it, 
for thus his headship over it is recognized and its 
relations to his kingdom better understood. 

In the third place, bad as the church has been 
at times, on the whole its influence has been good. 
At its worst it has been better than the pagan re- 
ligions which it displaced, and at its best it has 
truly been " the light of the world " and " the salt 
of the earth." One of the marvelous things about 
it and one of the proofs that God has not for- 



THE CHURCHES IO3 

saken it is that it has shown power to reform 
itself. There was a long period of decadence and 
corruption, during which every true saint of God — 
and there were such in the worst days of the 
church — was appalled and disheartened, but during 
the last four centuries there has been splendid im- 
provement which promises to continue and increase. 
No one can deny that the church is now justifying 
its existence in many and diverse ways and proving 
the wisdom and foresight of Christ in establishing 
and maintaining it. 

The announcement of our Lord's purpose to es- 
tablish a church, to which we have referred, con- 
tains some expressions which should give us in- 
sight into its nature and purposes. He said, 
" Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build 
my church." There has been boundless and end- 
less controversy over this passage, but the mean- 
ing is plain to one who comes to it without a pre- 
conceived theory to support. Peter had just made 
his great confession of the deity and Messiahship 
of Christ. It seems evident that he spoke for all 
the Twelve. Our Lord's reply is that he will build 
his church of such confessors, and Peter, being the 
first, is naturally called the foundation. There 
is no question of the primacy of Peter in author- 
ity; his primacy was only in time. This gives us 
definite information as to the constituency of the 
church; it is to consist of those who accept and 
confess the deity of Christ. But that is not all. 



104 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

In the face of persecution such a confession would 
be good and sufficient proof of regeneration and 
Christian character. But the time would come 
when to confess Christ would be almost compelled 
by public sentiment — when not to confess Christ 
would be a cause of reproach. Then there would 
be millions of nominal confessors, men and women 
who acknowledged the deity of Christ with their 
lips, but whose hearts were never subjected to his 
authority. To make it clear that such have no 
place in his church, Jesus said of Peter's confes- 
sion, " Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto 
thee, but my Father who is in heaven." There 
is a similar thought in John's sayings : " Whosoever 
shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God 
abideth in him, and he in God" (i John 4:15; 
5:1), and " whosoever believeth that Jesus is the 
Christ is begotten of God." Obviously, such faith 
is more than intellectual conviction; such a con- 
fession is more than the recital of an inherited or 
indoctrinated creed. The faith and confession of 
which Jesus speaks imply surrender of the whole 
man to Christ as Lord. 

But we must note with special emphasis the 
source of the faith which Peter confessed. It had 
been given him from heaven. He could make that 
confession because he had been taught by the Spirit. 
" No man can say, Jesus is Lord, but in the Holy 
Spirit." That is, no man can say it in the sense 
in which Peter said it, and with the same force 



THE CHURCHES IO5 

and meaning. This makes clear and plain the plan 
of Jesus in founding his church. He meant that it 
should be composed of regenerated men and women 
who believe in Jesus Christ, who confess him as 
Lord, and who are taught and moved by the Holy 
Spirit. It has probably never been possible for 
the disciples of Christ perfectly to carry out this 
purpose. The church is necessarily composed of 
fallible men and women, and they cannot avoid 
mistakes. But an honest purpose to obey Christ, 
firmly adhered to through the centuries, w r ould have 
made the church a very different institution from 
the questionable combination which it has been. 
Its history, instead of being a " tragic, humiliating, 
disenchanting tale," would have been a noble rec- 
ord, luminous with the splendor of great achieve- 
ment for the kingdom of heaven on earth. 

We must now endeavor to make plain the rela- 
tion of the church to the kingdom. In the interest 
of clearness and in loyalty to the form of ex- 
pression generally used in the New Testament, we 
will drop the comprehensive word and speak of 
the " churches." What is a church ? It is a so- 
ciety of Christian people organized and maintained 
to promote the growth of Christ's kingdom in the 
world. That may not be an adequate definition, 
but it is true so far as it goes, and will serve our 
present purpose. How can it fulfil its function? 
There are at least five lines of effort which we 
may briefly discuss. 



106 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

First, by preaching the gospel of the kingdom. 
The King made this the first duty of his subjects. 
" Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel 
to the whole creation." " Go ye, therefore, and 
make disciples of all the nations." This is a com- 
mand binding upon all Christians till " the end of 
the age." There will always be human beings who 
know not Christ to whom we must preach the gos- 
pel. After all the pagan nations are fully evan- 
gelized there will be new generations coming on in 
every land to whom the good news must be told. 
To fulfil the commission it must be told with ar- 
gument, persuasion, appeal, and in the power of the 
Holy Spirit, and repeated so long as any will hear. 
While this work was at first carried on by indi- 
viduals, later methods indicate that the apostles 
understood our Lord to mean that it was to be 
done in the main by the churches. It was the 
church at Antioch which, moved by the Holy Spirit, 
sent out the first missionaries to the Gentiles. As 
a rule it is possible to do this work only by the 
combined effort of a number of Christians organ- 
ized as a church. 

In part the work of preaching the gospel is to 
be done by regular pastors, supported by their 
churches. Every one of them is to do the work 
of an evangelist. But they are not the only 
preachers. We should not dignify that word be- 
yond reason and make it mean only formal dis- 
course delivered from a platform to a large audi- 



THE CHURCHES IO7 

ence. Every one who tells a lost sinner of Jesus 
the Saviour, and makes plain the way of salvation 
through him, is a preacher of the gospel. All be- 
lievers are to do that work. We are all to be 
witnesses of the saving power of our Lord. And 
neither pastor nor people are to wait for lost sin- 
ners to come to them. The command of the Lord 
is " Go." That includes going into the next house 
or the next street as well as going to a far-distant 
land filled with pagans. 

Jesus makes his disciples " fishers of men." It 
is not enough to build a house, equip a kitchen, 
kindle a fire in the range, put on the frying-pan, 
and then invite the fish to come up out of the 
water and be fried and ' eaten. They must be 
sought with skill and patience. So must men be 
sought, and the task of finding and winning them 
is not easy. Nevertheless it is the first work of 
every disciple. It is the foundation-work in the 
establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth. 
Many people think of foreign missions as an effort 
to convert from a religion of their own to Chris- 
tianity a few heathen who are hardly worth sa- 
ving, who can hardly be made good for anything 
in this world, whatever may be their prospects 
for the next. The truth is that foreign mis- 
sions lay the foundation for building the kingdom. 
Without that work of evangelization the kingdom 
can never come. The man who prays, " Thy king- 
dom come," and who gives nothing to missions is, 



108 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

consciously or ignorantly, a hypocrite, and mocks the 
Almighty. We ought to remember that Asia and 
Africa are just as truly provinces of Christ's king- 
dom as Europe and America. Millions will be his 
happy subjects in those dark continents, and a 
Christian civilization will there be developed 
brighter than the world has known. Jesus has con- 
fidence in his gospel and bids his disciples spread 
it broadcast over the earth, knowing that it will not 
return unto him void. 

Secondly, the churches have a work to do for the 
kingdom in teaching the word. Part of the Great 
Commission is " teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you." Let no one 
imagine that evangelization is the only work neces- 
sary nor that the kingdom has come so soon as peo- 
ple are converted to Christ. That is the beginning 
— the foundation. These disciples must be in- 
structed and trained in the principles, the laws, the 
customs, and the practices of the kingdom. Teach- 
ing is not enough; discipline is quite as necessary. 
They are not only to be taught all the things Christ 
commanded; they must be taught to observe them. 
They must both know and do. 

This part of a church's work is very important. 
The kingdom comes as men know and do the com- 
mands of Christ in all their applications. A prime 
requisite is that the churches shall have teachers 
who have the training, the spiritual insight, the 
humility, and the industry to learn the mind of 



THE CHURCHES I09 

Christ on all the questions of life and the ability to 
express clearly, logically, forcibly, and attract- 
ively what they know. Most of Christ's teaching 
consisted of statements and illustrations of general 
principles whose application to the details of life 
is left to the disciples. But though they are free 
to decide all questions of casuistry for themselves, 
they need guidance and help in interpreting and 
applying our Lord's instructions. Even more they 
need rebuke, exhortation, stimulus, and encourage- 
ment in their efforts to do his will. Such help 
they should get from pastors and teachers and from 
one another in their church relations. A Chris- 
tian church puts forth organized and united effort 
to promote obedience to Christ; it also creates a 
public sentiment and an atmosphere which make 
disobedience hard and obedience easy. 

In the third place, the churches of Christ pro- 
mote the growth of his kingdom among men by 
living the life of the kingdom. Every Christian 
church is a perpetual object-lesson to the world. 
The silent influence of good living is a great moral 
power. The churches may exert this power 
through the personal lives of their members. An 
honest, clean, loving, helpful, pious life is a phe- 
nomenon that always attracts attention in this 
world. People wonder concerning its source and 
support; and when it is accompanied by testimony 
that is wholly due to the grace and power of Jesus 
Christ it becomes a mighty evangel for him. 



IIO IF CHRIST WERE KING 

But these are the influence and testimony of in- 
dividuals. A church does its best work for Christ 
by illustrating the social life of the kingdom. It 
is able to do this because it is a society. A truly 
Christian church is an object-lesson to the world 
in that its members love one another and show 
their love in kindly ministrations. A world of 
hatred, of revenge, of cruelty, of jealousy, of strife, 
of contention, of evil speaking, of competition — 
such as this world, without the saving grace of 
God, has always been — has no worthy meaning for 
the word love. How shall they be made to under- 
stand it? By seeing it in operation as a living 
principle. Jesus came to manifest it in his life 
and death. Then he said to the Father, of his 
disciples: "As thou hast sent me into the world, 
even so have I also sent them into the world " (John 
17:18); and to them he said: "By this shall all 
men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have 
love one to another " (John 13:35). 

Such love could be displayed only through some 
form of social organization, and this explains and 
justifies the existence of churches. Their members 
are to lay aside all strife and contention and live in 
peace and harmony with one another. Christ left 
no room for any hatred or spite or bitterness or ill 
feeling of any sort in any of his churches. He 
gave careful and explicit instructions as to the 
method of getting rid of them. Should one mem- 
ber wrong or offend another the injured person 



THE CHURCHES III 

must go in the spirit of love to the offender, state 
his case, and try to win the wrong-doer to repent- 
ance and reparation. If he fails he is to take 
with him one or two more and, with their aid, try 
again. Should this second attempt fail, he must 
tell the matter to his church and secure the inter- 
cession of the whole body. If the offender re- 
fuses to hear them, and to act on their decision, 
they must put him out of their fellowship. Some- 
how the contention must go out of the church; if 
there is no other way the man who causes it 
must go. 

On the other hand, when an offender repents and 
asks forgiveness the offended person must forgive 
him fully and freely and put the offense away to 
be no more mentioned or considered. If he re- 
fuses to do this he flings away his own hope of 
salvation. Jesus taught that God forgives us only 
as we forgive others. If we have no mercy on 
others God will have no mercy on us. In the 
kingdom of heaven implacability is an unpardon- 
able offense. But our Lord's instructions in this 
matter go yet farther. He says that when one be- 
comes conscious that he has injured another he 
must make righting the wrong his first duty. Let 
him not presume to worship God nor to bring an 
offering to his altar till he has become reconciled to 
his brother. Let him know that when he is out 
of fellowship with a brother through his own fault 
he is also out of fellowship with his God. 



112 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Why did our Lord say so much more of this 
than of other sins which might seem to us equally 
important? Because this is a sin against the pri- 
mary law of the kingdom; in a peculiar sense it is 
treason against the King. Ill will manifested 
among the members of a church defeats the pur- 
pose for which a church exists and hinders the 
progress of the kingdom. 

Members of a Christian church illustrate the 
principle of love in positive services to one another. 
They are patient, kind, courteous in all their asso- 
ciations. They do not speak evil of one another. 
If a brother goes astray those that are spiritual 
restore him " in the spirit of meekness " (Gal. 6: i). 
They help one another in all possible ways to live 
good lives. If one should be needy or destitute 
the others minister to him in material things. 
When one is afflicted the others try to comfort him. 
If one is struggling with fierce temptation the 
others cheer and encourage him. In honor they 
prefer one another. If one does well the others 
praise him. In a Christian church the rich are 
brought low and the poor are exalted, not by the 
enforcement of any law to that effect, but because 
all are brothers and the chasm between the rich 
and the poor in the world disappears in the nobler 
relation. Both rejoice in its disappearance and in 
the bond that has brought them together. In a 
church that is truly Christian there can be no caste, 
no social distinction based upon birth or money. 



THE CHURCHES 



113 



Even though a church has teachers it has no mas- 
ters, " for one is your master and all ye are 
brethren" (Matt. 23:8). 

But a true church stands for more than love; it 
stands also for righteousness. There are several 
ways in which it may fulfil this important func- 
tion. One way is to sustain and applaud a minis- 
try which denounces every form of iniquity and 
advocates every form of righteousness. It is never 
easy to do this and churches often fail to use 
this opportunity. The temptation to demand that 
preachers prophesy smooth things comes in many 
forms. Sometimes it arises from the fact that 
members of the church wish to live in sin and 
remain unrebuked. In such cases they demand 
silence of their preachers. If one of them speaks 
out the whole truth and cuts them to the heart they 
go over to the enemies of the King and begin to 
abuse his servant. The stoning of prophets by im- 
penitent sinners in the churches has been their 
favorite diversion whenever the truth has troubled 
them. They foolishly think that if they can silence 
the prophet they have destroyed the truth and made 
a good defense for themselves. There are many 
churches in which a faithful preacher is always in 
danger that some powerful member will for this 
reason become his bitter and relentless enemy. But 
the responsibility for sustaining a faithful ministry 
and suppressing or bringing to repentance any who 
may object to it is on the church. 

H 



114 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Why should the church exist at all if it is not to 
stand for righteousness ? How otherwise can it pro- 
mote the growth of a holy kingdom among men? 
The plea often is that if wealthy and powerful mem- 
bers are offended and withdraw their support the 
church cannot be maintained. Then let it die. If a 
church, trusting in God and doing righteously, 
should die it would be proof of one of two things : 
either that there is no God, or, if there is a God, 
that he has no further use for that church. Some- 
times this temptation takes the form of fear that 
" friends " of the church outside its membership, 
especially men and women who contribute to its 
financial support, will be offended by the truth. 
But to yield to this temptation would be such a 
bold and obvious sale of the church to Satan that 
few churches are guilty of it. We should remem- 
ber that no man is a friend of the kingdom who 
is not willing to know and do the whole truth. 

A church bears testimony to the righteousness 
of the kingdom by having a godly membership. 
Recall our Lord's instruction that it is to be com- 
posed of persons who confess Christ as Lord, who 
have been regenerated, and who are led by the 
Spirit. But this ideal cannot be perfectly realized. 
None of its members will be perfect in character 
and some of them will be very imperfect. The 
worst are to be retained as long as they are peni- 
tent and striving to be better. One function of a 
church is to help the bad to become good, the 



THE CHURCHES II5 

weak to become strong, and the imperfect to grow 
toward perfection. It is a hospital for sick souls. 
But the incorrigibly bad must be cast out or the 
church loses its testimony for righteousness. In 
actual practice this purification of the church is 
often attended with great difficulties. It is not 
easy for the church to decide between its duty to 
the unworthy member and its duty to the king- 
dom. Unless it can yield itself wholly to the direc- 
tion of the Spirit its way is not always clear, even 
though its intentions may be good. 

But in respect to one thing it is not possible for 
a Christian church to mistake its duty. It may 
not see its way clear to cast out of its fellowship 
unworthy or doubtful members, but surely it 
knows that it is wrong to elect such members to 
important offices in the church. And yet it is 
often done because such members have money or 
social influence. Sometimes they get office by the 
tricks of a demagogue, and the church tamely sub- 
mits. A church which, for reasons of worldly pol- 
icy, elects dishonest or unclean or drunken men 
to fill its offices goes over to the enemy and hin- 
ders the progress of the kingdom. It bears testi- 
mony in favor of unrighteousness and might better 
cease to be. If a church is to fulfil its function as 
a servant of the kingdom it must have, so far 
as possible, a pure membership made up of faith- 
ful Christians and always a list of officers whose 
lives, as others see them, are beyond reproach. 



Il6 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

In the fourth place, the churches may promote 
the growth of the kingdom by maintaining right 
relations to one another. While a local company 
of Christians may be a complete church, rarely 
can it do its work in the world in isolation from 
other churches. In sending missionaries to " the 
regions beyond," to peoples not yet evangelized, it 
is generally necessary for churches to combine 
their efforts. When there are several churches in 
the same city they must avoid overlapping one 
another's territory and duplicating their work. 
There are many things which churches working 
in harmony in a city can do for the people, such 
as caring for neglected children, for the sick, the 
poor, the criminal, evangelizing the masses, pro- 
moting reforms, and securing good government, 
which they will fail to do if every one is trying to 
do its work apart from the others. 

The division of the churches into sects or de- 
nominations is one of the great crimes of the Chris- 
tian ages. It has resulted in complicated and deep- 
rooted evils which it may take centuries to remove. 
It has been done by men of good intentions who 
did not foresee the results ; in some cases it has 
been necessary in order to escape the worse evils of 
a paganized church; nevertheless for the greater 
part it has been a crime and a misfortune. These 
divisions are plainly contrary to the will of the 
King. He prayed that his people might all be 
one. In many ways they have caused waste of the 



THE CHURCHES 117 

King's resources. There has been waste of energy 
in foolish and useless disputes. In thousands of 
communities there has been waste of money and 
of power in efforts to sustain several churches 
where only one was needed. The misplacing of 
houses of worship in cities, the huddling of many 
in places where they are not needed, and the leav- 
ing of other regions unsupplied have caused worse 
waste, besides being productive of some positive 
evils like Sunday travel and non-churchgoing. 
Worse than these bad results is the failure of city 
churches, through disharmony, to do the Chris- 
tian work for the people which, united, they might 
have done. Perhaps the worst evil of these 
divisions has been the failure of Christendom to 
present a united front to the pagan world. They 
have caused the non-Christian peoples to misunder- 
stand Christianity and made their conversion more 
difficult; at the same time they have weakened our 
missionary efforts. Loss of strength at home has 
meant loss of capacity for the foreign work. 

Servants who disobey the King's command, who 
waste the King's resources, and hinder the King's 
work after this fashion are certainly not good 
servants. It is only fair to say that the present 
generation of Christians has inherited the divisions 
and their consequences, and they are not directly 
responsible. At the same time it is plainly our 
duty, as loyal subjects of the King, to take imme- 
diate steps looking to the restoration of Christian 



Il8 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

unity and to persist in efforts looking to that end 
till it is accomplished. Only thus can the churches 
be in right relations to the kingdom. 

In the fifth place, the churches may help the 
kingdom by producing and training men and 
women who shall be able and willing to carry 
Christian ideas, principles, and forces into every 
department of human life. It is essential to clear 
thinking to remember that the kingdom is broader 
than the churches. Directly they have to do only 
with man's religious nature. Incidentally they 
may quicken and develop his intellect, gratify his 
social instincts, and improve his social habits; but 
they do not exist for these purposes. They affect 
his morals mainly because morality is a necessary 
sequence of pure religion. Churches are religious 
institutions and have no immediate function out- 
side of man's religious interests. But the kingdom 
has to do with the whole man in all his relations. 
It is concerned with his physical, intellectual, so- 
cial, industrial, and political welfare. It manifests 
itself outside of the churches in better sanitary con- 
ditions, in improved education, in love and equity 
between man and man in business and economic 
relations, in the fact that every man has a chance 
for a full life, in good laws fairly administered, 
and in a free State governed by the people in the 
interests of the people. 

A question of vital interest, and one on which 
many people both in the churches and outside still 



THE CHURCHES 119 

have muddy ideas, is what have the churches to 
do with bringing about better social and political 
conditions? The churches are held responsible 
and blamed by many for the existence of condi- 
tions and institutions which promote vice and im- 
morality. And it is argued by these critics that 
churches as organizations should engage in work 
of reform. But do they not misunderstand the 
nature of Christianity and the functions of the 
churches ? Is not their arraignment of the churches 
the result of confusion of thought? Have we any 
warrant in the New Testament for insisting that 
churches shall become societies for the promotion 
of needed reforms? 

If we look carefully and consider thoroughly we 
shall conclude that the business of the churches 
is to make Christian men and women. This work 
is primary and fundamental. A good community 
or a good State cannot be made without good men 
and women. You cannot build a brick house un- 
til you have made your bricks. An incalculable 
amount of energy has been wasted in attempts to 
produce certain reforms before there were men and 
women to sustain the improved conditions. If 
churches turn aside from their legitimate and pre- 
scribed functions to engage in reform work they 
risk the forfeiture of the divine blessing, they may 
drive away the Holy Spirit, and they will certainly 
fail to gain the permanent results which they de- 
sire. They should be content to stick to their own 



120 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

business, for it is the greatest and most important 
work in the world. It is also the most difficult and 
demands all their energies. In fact, it is a task 
which can be accomplished only by the use of the 
word in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

How does this work affect the progress of the 
kingdom in its broader relations? If the churches 
produce Christian men and women who are in- 
structed, trained, and developed, every one of them 
will be a force for righteousness in the world. By 
their personal influence they can do much, by their 
votes they can do more. They will be interested 
in the education of the young and do their utmost 
for the improvement of the public schools. They 
will promote movements for better sanitation in 
towns and cities. They will work and vote to put 
good and capable men in office to make our laws 
and execute them. As their numbers increase they 
will be more and more successful in demanding 
laws and governments which will give every man 
a chance for prosperity and happiness and the full- 
est development of his personality. If the world 
is ever to see a Christian State it will be pro- 
duced, not by the union of Church and State, not 
by direct intervention of the churches in political 
affairs, but by men and women whom the churches 
have trained and instructed in their duties as Chris- 
tian citizens. 

First of all, they should learn that they are to 
act according to Christian principles in every human 



THE CHURCHES 121 

relation. They must take their religion into the 
family, society, business, and politics. When Jesus 
said " My kingdom is not of this world " he meant 
that in its nature, its source, its methods, its prin- 
ciples, and its support, it was not a worldly king- 
dom, was not like the kingdoms of this world with 
which Pilate was acquainted; he certainly did not 
mean that it had no relation to the affairs of this 
world. His general teaching on its nature, es- 
pecially his parabolic teaching, presents it in the 
light of the world-changing power. With this view 
of it all the prophecies, those of both the Old Tes- 
tament and the New Testament, agree. Therefore, 
" we look for a new earth wherein dwelleth right- 
eousness." It was the inspiring hope of prophets 
and apostles and has been the dream and the goal 
of believing men and women in all ages. The part 
of the churches in bringing about this new and 
better state of things is to furnish the men and 
women who shall be able and willing to make the 
family, the social and industrial conditions, the 
State and the government what they ought to be. 
This is the Christian method. Jesus began his 
work with souls, not with customs, laws, and in- 
stitutions. " The soul of all improvement is the 
improvement of the soul." Get man right with 
God, with himself, and with his neighbor, and all 
the rest will soon become right. This primary fun- 
damental work is the peculiar and important func- 
tion of the churches. 



122 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

It being clear that Christians must take their re- 
ligion into all human relations, the manner in which 
they shall do it becomes an important question. 
On this the pastors and teachers of a church may 
properly give instructions. Of course, it would 
not answer for pastors to tell their members how 
they must vote in partisan politics. That would 
be an attempt at priestly tyranny and opposed to 
the free spirit of Christianity. But a church may 
rightly insist that its members shall seek to know 
the will of Christ and do it in all things. And one 
way by which we may learn that will is to ask 
whether any word or action we are considering 
will advance or hinder the progress of the king- 
dom. Paul said, " Do all to the glory of God.'' 
That is only a different way of saying, do all 
things to promote the kingdom of heaven on 
earth. In that is his glory so far as this world is 
concerned. Nearer to the heart of Christ than any 
other interest is the interest of that kingdom. And 
we must not forget that his reign is to cover all 
departments of life. 

It is at this point that Christian churches and 
their teachers have largely failed in the past and 
are still failing. They have thought that the king- 
dom of God meant only religion in this world 
and heaven in the next. Now we are beginning 
to learn that in order to promote the kingdom we 
must try and bring all things under the sway 
of the King: our dress, our eating, our homes, 



THE CHUKCHES 123 

our personal habits, our social customs, the use 
of our time, our business, the use of our money, 
our citizenship, our political activities, our votes, 
are all to be subjected to his will. And whatever 
in our conduct affects the welfare of others, not 
only our friends, but also the community, the State, 
and the world, should have special consideration; 
for it is in these relations that we are to manifest 
that love which is the law of the kingdom. These 
things the churches must teach through men ap- 
pointed for the purpose, and thus fulfil their func- 
tions in promoting that kingdom whose roots are 
as deep as the holiest springs of action and whose 
branches cover every phase of human life. The 
churches are technical schools in which disciples 
are taught and trained to do the world-changing 
work of the kingdom. 



VIII 

THE SOCIAL ORDER 

MAN is a social being. He does not find his 
true life or reach his highest development 
in isolation. His affectional nature, his sense of 
justice, his benevolence, his self-control, his power 
of organization, his ability to express his thoughts, 
and all his higher faculties are cultivated by asso- 
ciation with his fellows. The Creator has taken 
pains to secure such association by giving him gre- 
garious instincts. In a normal state he seeks com- 
panionship in the family, in the community, in fra- 
ternities and societies, and in the State. Man does 
violence to his nature when he attempts to lead a 
hermit-life. He needs society in the whole area of 
his being, and God made him for it, in order that he 
may get its benefits. 

On what terms shall men associate with one 
another? Shall humanity be one great brotherhood 
in which all are equal, or shall it be divided into 
castes, social grades, some of which are, in the 
common opinion, better and more important than 
others? This is the most radical and pertinent 
question that can be asked concerning human rela- 
tions. It is useless to discuss any other phase of 
124 



THE SOCIAL ORDER 125 

the subject till this is settled and settled according 
to the will of the King. 

Man has answered the question by creating and 
establishing the caste system. In one form or an- 
other it prevails throughout the whole civilized 
world. It probably originated in the power of some 
individuals to gain the mastery over others. In 
some cases it was simply fighting strength, personal 
prowess, and ability to secure and hold a following 
of warriors. By predatory warfare such leaders 
secured estates, and thus a landed aristocracy was 
formed. In other cases men have gained author- 
ity over their fellows by the assumption of super- 
natural powers and the pretense of ability to traffic 
with an unseen world, appealing thus to their super- 
stitious fears till they hold them in subjection. 
Again, it has been power to lead others in organi- 
zing or developing States, or power to accumulate 
great wealth, or to acquire learning which has 
caused the formation of castes. Some element of 
superiority has been selfishly used to secure and 
fortify a position of advantage over the rest of 
mankind. 

Caste takes various forms. In Europe high caste 
rests mainly upon hereditary titles, power, wealth, 
and gentility, but an inferior sort of gentility 
may be inherited without title or wealth. If you 
are born a gentleman or lady your position is 
assured; otherwise your case is hopeless. The 
contempt with which European aristocracy regards 



126 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

the " common people/' and the matter-of-fact way 
in which the common people accept their inferior 
place are among the wonders of the world. In 
India the system of caste is so extensive and com- 
plicated that it is only by the exercise of an acute 
mind in years of study that it can be compre- 
hended. Between different castes marriage, eating 
together, personal contact, handling the same ob- 
jects, even near approach are strictly forbidden. 
The essence of it is that society is arbitrarily di- 
vided into superiors who look down with contempt 
upon those below them, and inferiors who must look 
up with awe and reverence to those above them. 
These two examples are sufficient to show what 
the world has adopted as the basis of social life. 

Caste once established is likely to remain. All the 
powers of the superior classes are enlisted to hold 
a position so gratifying to their selfishness and 
pride. After a few generations the inferiors ac- 
cept their position as a matter of course and are 
unfitted for anything better. Thus systems of 
caste become as immovable and unchangeable as 
rock-ribbed mountains. The slow corrosion of time 
may lower them a little, but it takes centuries to 
make an appreciable change. Some systems of caste 
with which we are familiar have existed for more 
than three thousand years. 

What does Jesus teach on this subject? There 
are many who assert that he taught nothing. It 
is true that he made no direct attack upon the 



THE SOCIAL ORDER I27 

existing social order. He knew how deeply rooted it 
was in human thought, how well established a part 
of human life it was, and that any attempt to change 
it by direct attack or cyclonic revolution would be 
disastrous. He did not denounce slavery; in fact, 
there is no recorded word of his on the subject. 
Does it follow that he approved it and expected it 
to continue to the end of the age? We can argue 
nothing from his silence on the subject of caste. 
If he contemplated a change he was too deep a 
philosopher to be a short-cut social reformer. The 
assumption has been general that he desired no 
change, that he approved the existing order, or at 
least considered it necessary. It is hardly possible 
to explain on any other ground the general adop- 
tion by the church of the aristocratic form of gov- 
ernment. A church with popes, cardinals, arch- 
bishops, bishops, and various orders of priests imi- 
tates the world with its kings, princes, nobles, 
squires, and plutocrats, and lends itself to the re- 
enforcement and perpetuation of the caste system. 
The idea that social grades are necessary and ben- 
eficial seems to be embodied in the prayer which 
the members of at least one great Christian denom- 
ination are taught to offer, that " we may be con- 
tent and do our duty in that station in life in which 
Divine Providence has placed us." The writer of 
that prayer seemed to be as sure as a Brahman that 
social grades are of the Lord and are not to be 
meddled with on that account. 



128 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

At the other extreme are those who say that 
Jesus hardly taught anything else than the proper 
relations of man to man and that his real mission 
was to found a new social order. While this is 
an absurdly one-sided view of his ministry it is 
not strange that it should be taken by an enthusi- 
ast on sociology whose mind is full of the subject. 
For it is true that almost everything that Jesus 
taught has some relation to the social life of man. 
Three examples from many that might be given will 
make this clear. Jesus emphasized the fatherhood 
of God in many statements and illustrations; but 
that implies the brotherhood of man. He said that 
he had come " to give his life a ransom for many," 
but he used that very fact to illustrate the love men 
should have for one another. He spoke much of 
man's future destiny, but in the judgment scenes 
he painted it appears that our future will depend 
upon how we have treated our fellow-men in this 
world. 

But Jesus taught directly and legislated on the 
social order. On a subject so vital and important 
we should take all possible pains to learn exactly 
what his mind was. In our investigation we shall 
get most light by following the inductive method. 

We ought to give first attention to his example. 
Jesus lived a social life. He was no ascetic or 
recluse. He mingled freely with the people in their 
toils and cares, in their pleasures and sorrows, in 
festive gatherings, and in private conversation, 



THE SOCIAL ORDER I29 

according to methods of his own choosing. May we 
not safely assume that in this respect, as in others, 
he has given us a pattern of true human life ? What 
one lives expresses his mind better than what he 
says. 

Of all the men who have lived on the earth Jesus 
alone was able to choose the station in which he 
should be born. He chose to be the son of a car- 
penter's wife and to take his place in the peasant 
class. The universal belief is that from youth to 
the time when he began his public ministry he 
worked at the carpenter's trade. This does not 
imply that every disciple of Christ must be a me- 
chanic or spend his life in manual labor. By this 
choice he showed that he was absolutely indifferent 
to rank, he dignified common toil, and proved that 
a place with the common people and a share in 
their labor are not inconsistent with the noblest life. 

He chose a life of poverty. It is doubtful 
whether he ever had a vestige of property that he 
could call his own unless it might be the clothes 
he wore. The tools he used at his trade were 
Joseph's, the wages he earned went into the family 
fund. After he began his public ministry he was 
dependent upon his friends for support, and there 
is no hint that personally he ever received a gift 
of money or property beyond food and raiment. 
This and some of his teaching have been interpreted 
to mean that every follower of Christ must take a 
vow of perpetual poverty. This subject will be 



130 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

discussed in a subsequent chapter; just now our 
point is that he who could have created for him- 
self boundless wealth voluntarily chose a life of 
poverty. It was the dignified and self-respecting 
poverty of a Galilean carpenter or fisherman, and 
not the cramping, narrowing, and socially and mor- 
ally degrading poverty of Occidental civilization. 
It was not inconsistent with attention to the inter- 
ests of the higher life. But granting all that, why 
choose it in preference to wealth? His purposes 
were to show that " a man's life consisteth not in 
the abundance of the things which he possesseth " 
(Luke 12: 15), to teach that the power over others 
which comes from the mere possession of wealth 
is a baleful influence, and to prove that he was un- 
willing to owe to such a source the power he wished 
to exert in behalf of humanity. 

In the early part of his public work he gave it 
out as a conspicuous and characteristic feature of 
his ministry that the poor had the gospel, the good 
news of the kingdom, preached to them. He an- 
nounced it in his discourse at Nazareth. He sent 
it in his message to John the Baptist among the 
proofs that he was the Messiah. The emphasis 
placed on this indicates that he thought of the poor 
as a wronged, oppressed, and neglected class who 
needed and deserved his special attention. He had 
no sympathy with the popular notion among the 
Jews that poverty was a sign of divine disapproval. 
Such a sentiment must have pressed like a heavy 



THE SOCIAL ORDER I3I 

weight on the hearts of the poor. Jesus declared 
that he had a special mission to the suffering, to 
those who were in distressing circumstances of any 
kind. The pitiable condition of the common peo- 
ple everywhere moved his heart and led him to 
devote his life to the promotion of their welfare. 
And when he saw the multitudes he had compassion 
on them (Matt. 9:36). 

His most startling statement was that his Father 
has a special care for the " lapsed," the outcast, 
the disreputable, and that they would constitute a 
large part of his kingdom. He illustrated this with 
the matchless parables of the Lost Coin, the Lost 
Sheep, and the Lost Son. He exemplified it in 
the fact that he gave one of his great discourses 
to an ignorant, disreputable woman at Jacob's well 
and in his friendliness to Zacchseus, a publican. It 
was plain that in every such person he saw a being 
of infinite value. 

Jesus associated freely with all races and classes : 
with Jews, Romans, Samaritans, Syro-phoenicians, 
Greeks, with rich and poor, with respectable and 
disreputable, with Pharisees, publicans, scribes, 
fishermen, rulers, beggars. The aristocrats criti- 
cized him severely because he was so unconven- 
tional and apparently reckless in choosing his as- 
sociates. But they were blind, and knew as little 
of his heart as they did of his purpose. In his 
social habits he was not acting on impulse, but was 
following a great principle. 



132 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

He made the company of the Twelve not from 
the learned nor rich nor great, but from plain, hum- 
ble men of a middle class. Among them all there 
was not one priest or scribe or rabbi or ruler of 
any rank, but there was one publican. 

What is the meaning of his course? Surely it 
is not without profound significance. It meant, 
for one thing, that he intended to deal with man as 
man. Without exaggeration he may be said to 
have discovered, or at any rate rediscovered, the 
essential man, who for ages had been hidden under 
all sorts of titles and trappings. His whole life 
shows that to him it was a matter of no conse- 
quence whatever that a man was rich or poor, 
great or lowly, learned or ignorant, in a palace 
or a hovel, on a throne or on a workman's stool; 
for in every case there was a man, and all the rest 
was but the temporary wrapping of the jewel. 
This was a great thing so far as the relations of 
man to man are concerned — the greatest thing in 
our Lord's life and ministry. In assuming this 
attitude he placed himself on a different plane 
from that occupied by any other teacher or leader. 
He thus discovered a foundation on which he could 
build an eternal kingdom. 

For a second thing his social habits meant that 
for the purposes of his kingdom one man was as 
valuable as another. This is a natural sequence 
of our first inference. He placed infinite value 
upon man. He was worth more than a world. 



THE SOCIAL ORDER I33 

What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole 
world and lose himself? (Luke 9:25.) As com- 
pared with the value of a man any possible dif- 
ference between two men need not be reckoned. 
This was his way of estimating the essential ma- 
terial of his kingdom. And if some of his servants 
were to be more useful than others the difference 
would not depend upon anything that the world 
valued or considered an element of power. He 
illustrated this in many ways during his earthly 
ministry and has been illustrating it ever since. 
For example, his most successful evangelist dur- 
ing his lifetime was the immoral woman with 
whom he talked at the well of Jacob. The most 
useful man in the nineteenth century was so un- 
promising a youth that a Christian church hesi- 
tated about receiving him into its membership. We 
count it a great thing when a rich man or a states- 
man or a scholar or a king is converted to Christ; 
he has other ways of estimating greatness. We 
cannot yet follow Christ in his contempt for trap- 
pings and in his valuation of man. 

For a third thing our Lord's social habits meant 
that those circumstances which men considered ad- 
vantages might be hindrances — even fatal hin- 
drances — to entering the kingdom at all. The com- 
mon judgment of his time was that the rich were 
the favorites of heaven, but Jesus said, " How 
hardly shall they that have riches enter the kingdom 
of God!" (Mark 10:23.) This saying so aston- 



134 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

ished the disciples that they cried, " Who then can 
be saved ? " Brains and culture, wit and clever- 
ness are supposed to be advantages everywhere, 
but Jesus said : " I thank thee, O Father, Lord of 
heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things 
from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal 
them unto babes " (Luke 10: 21). How ominous is 
that " didst hide " for those who think to' come 
into the kingdom by learning and culture! 

The words of Jesus confirm and illuminate our 
inferences from his social habits. As Luke reports 
him, two of his sayings were (Luke 6:24, 20): 
" Woe unto you that are rich ! for ye have re- 
ceived your consolation," and " Blessed are ye poor ; 
for yours is the kingdom of God." Do they mean 
that wealth is a crime; that poverty is a virtue? 
So he has been interpreted. The parable of Dives 
and Lazarus seems to imply this doctrine of social 
ethics. But deeper study shows that he had other 
purposes. His woes on riches and his beatitudes 
on poverty refer to helps and hindrances rather 
than to any ethical quality in either. The parable 
of Dives and Lazarus is a lesson in social brother- 
hood. In both cases he is trying to lead men's 
minds away from vain show, mere fripperies, and 
to induce them to consider the substance of things. 
Lazarus was a man, though a beggar; Dives was 
another, though not so good. 

Much may be learned from what Jesus said 
about princes and rulers. 



THE SOCIAL ORDER I35 

Ye know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over 
them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 
Not so shall it be among you : but whosoever would be- 
come great among you shall be your servant; and who- 
soever would be first among you shall be your bondservant 
(Matt. 20:25-27). 

This discourse was given in immediate connec- 
tion with the effort of James and John to get the 
promise of the first and second places in the king- 
dom when it should be established and the jealous 
anger of the other disciples at their scheming. It 
rebuked the ambitious pair for their effort, and the 
rest for their jealousy, and instructed them all. It 
is evident that he is laying down a general law for 
the government of his disciples. They must not 
seek to gain supremacy or authority over one an- 
other. Does he mean that there are to be no rulers, 
no men of authority? Does he intend to dispense 
with human government? Does he expect that 
when his kingdom shall have come there will be 
absolute democracy and no further need of rulers? 
We are not forced to answer these questions in the 
affirmative. Jesus said, " Render therefore unto 
Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God 
the things that are God's " (Matt. 22:21). Here 
is recognition of civil authority and no intimation 
that it will ever pass. But in the State in which 
the principles of the kingdom prevail all authority 
will rest upon the basis of service, and if any are 
exalted it will be because they are good servants. 



I36 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

They will not exalt themselves, neither will they 
consider themselves better than others. All will be 
members of the same body, entitled to equal honor, 
though all will not have the same office. 

Jesus gave even more specific instruction in the 
following words: 

Be not ye called Rabbi : for one is your teacher, and 
all ye are brethren. And call no man your father on the 
earth : for one is your Father, even he who is in heaven. 
Neither be ye called masters : for one is your master, even 
the Christ (Matt. 23:8-10). 

Human language could not be more clear and 
definite. Here is an absolute and universal pro- 
hibition of all caste, of all ranks and distinctions 
in the church, in society, and in the State. Differ- 
ences of office and of function there may be, but 
not titles which imply superiority and separate one 
from his brethren. Perhaps this rule applies es- 
pecially to the church, but the church is itself a 
model of the perfected social order. 

With regard to social entertainments Jesus gave 
one specific rule. At such a gathering he said to 
his host : 

When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy 
friends, nor thy brethren, nor thy kinsmen, nor rich neigh- 
bors; lest haply they also bid thee again, and a recompense 
be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, bid the 
poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind : and thou shalt be 
blessed; because they have not wherewith to recompense 
thee: for thou shalt be recompensed in the resurrection 
of the just (Luke 14:12-14). 



THE SOCIAL ORDER 137 

We can hardly believe that our Lord here for- 
bids us to give such entertainments to kindred 
and friends. The fact that he was frequently a 
guest at such gatherings would be inconsistent with 
that interpretation. Plainly enough he is rebu- 
king in this concrete way the spirit of commercial- 
ism in social life, because that spirit is fatal to 
brotherhood. There is no love in bargaining. He 
who seeks a quid pro quo gives nothing. In the 
kingdom of heaven on earth love and the service 
that follows love are to be the ruling principles. 
But beyond this the lesson teaches that the rich and 
great are not to forget nor ignore in their social life, 
even in their parties and dinners, the less fortu- 
nate members of society. On the other hand, the 
poor should feel free to invite the rich to their 
houses and to give them such as they have. Christ 
does not mean that they shall keep aloof from 
each other; much less does he mean that there 
shall be patronizing on one side or cringing servil- 
ity on the other. 

The conditions of salvation, or of entering the 
kingdom, which Christ laid down show his view 
of man. He said to Nicodemus, " Except a man 
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 
His word was " a man/' not a degraded outcast, 
not an ignorant person, not a Gentile, but " a man," 
every man. The promises to faith are made gen- 
eral. " He that believeth on the Son hath ever- 
lasting life : and he that believeth not the Son shall 



I38 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

not see life ; but the wrath of God abideth on him " 
(John 3:36). Every repetition of this statement 
— and the repetitions are numerous — has the same 
tenor. There is never any exception. " He that 
believeth not the Son shall not see life," though 
he be a king or a millionaire or a scholar or a 
philosopher or the purest and most lovely char- 
acter human culture ever produced. In the same 
way repentance is demanded of all. " Except ye 
repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). 
" God now commandeth all men everywhere to re- 
pent " (Acts 17 : 30). The proud Anglo-Saxon and 
the humble Hottentot enter the kingdom of heaven 
by the same door, if they enter at all. " God is 
no respecter of persons " (Acts 10: 34). 

In this connection the most significant incident 
of the New Testament is that of Pentecost. On 
that day the crowning, the supreme gift of re- 
deeming grace was bestowed upon men. Then 
Jesus baptized his disciples in the Holy Spirit. 
Peter says that this was done in fulfilment of the 
glorious prophecy of Joel (Acts 2: 17, 18) : 

And it shall be in the last days, saith God, 

I will pour forth of my spirit upon all flesh: 

And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, 

And your young men shall see visions, 

And your old men shall dream dreams : 

Yea and on my bondmen and bondmaidens in 

those days 
Will I pour forth of my Spirit; and they shall 

prophesy. 



THE SOCIAL ORDER 1 39 

In this prophecy the first emphasis seems to be on 
the universality of the gift. No class is excluded. 
Young and old, women and men, girls and boys, 
slaves and masters are to receive the baptism and 
the gift of prophecy. Human beings thus became 
the tabernacle of the Spirit, and the honor was be- 
stowed as freely upon the poor and lowly as upon 
the rich and great. This is the final word of the 
Lord upon social distinctions. 

From this study of the example and teaching of 
our Lord the only possible conclusion we reach is 
that in a society in which the will of Christ is done 
there will be: 

First, practical recognition of the value of man 
as man. This is the main consideration in pre- 
serving the peace and harmony of society. It is of 
far greater importance than any question relating 
to the distribution of wealth. The bitterest drop 
in the bitter cup of poverty is its social degrada- 
tion. That a man's worth should be measured by 
his possessions is abhorrent to every one capable 
of just thought or noble sentiments, and it is this 
disgusting estimate which poisons the minds of the 
poor. The unholy and dangerous passion for riches 
would be easily subdued if poverty did not seem 
to involve the loss of manhood and womanhood. 
The poor would not hate the rich if the rich treated 
the poor as Christ treated them. He went to the 
root of the matter when he made it plain by his ex- 
ample and teaching that all men are to be honored 



I4O IF CHRIST WERE KING 

simply because they are men. Before this august 
fact all distinctions of rank or wealth or learning 
shrink into such comparative nothingness that they 
are entirely negligible. As they grow contemptible 
they will disappear; no one will care to maintain 
them. 

Secondly, equality of privilege and opportunity for 
all men. They are not all equal in native endow- 
ment. Whether the differences in this respect are 
divinely ordered or whether they are results of 
sin no one can tell. Whatever their origin, they 
exist and must be reckoned with in any organiza- 
tion of societv. Christ considered them, for in 
the parable of the Talents the man who repre- 
sents the Lord gives " to each according to his 
several ability." To disregard this altogether 
would be waste of the best talent, squandering of 
the highest efficiency, throwing away power that 
should be used for the common good. But the 
value that Christ placed upon man as man makes 
it imperative that every one should have the priv- 
ilege of making the most of himself and the oppor- 
tunity to render the greatest possible service to 
others. For the strong wilfully to limit this right 
for the sake of a selfish end is a crime. Those 
who do it for power are tyrants and oppressors 
whom God hates. Those who do it for money are 
robbers of the worst description. Industrial meth- 
ods and conditions in which money is considered 
the chief good and man of little consequence are 



THE SOCIAL ORDER I4I 

devices of the Evil One. In the thought of Christ 
man is always first, his rights and welfare are the 
first consideration. 

Thirdly, the complete absence of anything like 
race hatred. In the plan of Christ for a correct so- 
cial order brotherhood overlaps racial boundaries. 
With his teaching on the value of man as man and 
his free association with different races before us, 
we can realize how trivial he would regard the dif- 
ferences between white men and black men, red 
men and yellow men, Americans and Africans, 
Europeans and Asiatics. Paul was undoubtedly 
speaking the mind of Christ when he said that God 
" made of one every nation of men for to dwell 
on all the face of the earth " (Acts 17:26), and 
that other statement which looks to the removal 
of existing division and enmity, " There can be 
neither Jew nor Greek, . . there can be no male and 
female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus " (Gal. 

3:28). 

To hate or despise those of another race is un- 
christian; to lend our influence to perpetuate these 
divisions is antichristian. They disappear as the 
kingdom progresses and as Christ reigns in heart 
and life. 

Fourthly, substantial democracy as the form of 
government for the State. A hereditary ruler or 
government by a few is not consistent with the 
Christian view of the worth and dignity of man as 
man. Rulers of some sort there will always be, but 



142 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

in the Christian State they will be chosen by all 
the people and their continuance in office will be 
determined by the people. 

Fifthly, service to others in social, industrial, and 
political relations the source and measure of honor 
and authority. There is no promise that a time 
will ever come when every person in the world 
will be a loving and loyal disciple of Jesus Christ. 
Until the final judgment there will be selfish and 
wicked men and women on the earth. But when 
the majority are for Christ, and when Christian 
sentiment prevails in society, such men will not 
be chosen as rulers nor hold positions of honor and 
authority. Men who attempt to acquire wealth by 
predatory methods will be despised whether or not 
they succeed, and men who use intellectual power 
to gain office and authority for selfish ends will 
be carefully chosen for private life and back seats. 
Then those who serve the best interests of the peo- 
ple with all their powers will be elected to office 
and trusted with authority. That is according to 
the law of Christ. He that will be great among 
you let him be your servant, and he that will be 
chief among you let him be your slave. " He that 
humbleth himself shall be exalted." He that is 
first conquered by the law of love may conquer 
others. He that truly serves will be trusted by the 
people. 

Supposing, now, that the kingdom of heaven is 
a world-transforming force, behold the magnitude 



THE SOCIAL ORDER I43 

of its task! Over against every social principle 
Jesus taught and practised we find in the world 
exactly its opposite. In most countries there are 
hereditary rank, pow r er, wealth, opportunity, and 
distinction based upon these accidents of birth 
without regard to character or usefulness. While 
in America we have no titled nobility and while 
the relative number of those who have opportunity 
for noble living is larger than in any other country, 
our social conditions are far from the Christian 
ideal. We see here honor and laudation given to 
wealth, no matter how acquired; we see the rich 
defeating the will of the people and securing laws 
for their own advantages; we see cunning dema- 
gogues and unscrupulous " bosses " controlling elec- 
tions for selfish ends; we see justice bought and 
sold in the courts ; we see " business " glorified at 
the expense of manhood; we see a purse-proud 
aristocracy contemptuous of the people; we see 
vice flourishing and protected, especially when vice 
is profitable; we see millions of people born into 
conditions in which life can be little more than a 
bare struggle for existence, while many live in un- 
paralleled luxury; we see forms of poverty as 
sordid and degraded as any the world has ever 
witnessed; we see a growing tendency to array 
class against class, while both forget the law of 
brotherhood. 

Vast multitudes the world over are in conditions 
in which a wholesome, decent life is impracticable, 



144 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

and mental and moral progress is impossible, and 
only here and there one of the powerful gives it a 
thought. Everywhere on one basis or another there 
is division into classes or castes and contempt of 
those who think themselves high for the lower. In 
this matter women are more antichristian than 
men. They are greater sticklers for rank and titles 
and social prestige. They carry this spirit even 
into our churches, and almost every city church has 
its group of aristocratic women who refuse social 
recognition to the poorer and humbler women in 
the same church. They are as blind to the anti- 
christian spirit of their conduct as were the Phar- 
isees. Almost everywhere in the world one finds 
race hatred, and it seems most bitter and intense 
in nominally Christian countries. In America it is 
exemplified in the feeling of whites toward Negroes 
and Asiatics. The British manifest it constantly 
in their dealings with the backward races, especially 
if those races are dark-skinned. 

For the transformation of all this to the Chris- 
tian ideal we pray, when we say from our hearts, 
" Thy kingdom come." But we cannot offer that 
prayer unless we are willing to help it come. How 
shall the subjects of the King set about this great 
task? Only a few brief suggestions can be given 
here, and they are hardly necessary in view of the 
light already gained. 

We must begin by taking seriously the example 
and teaching of Jesus on the social order. He was 



THE SOCIAL ORDER I45 

not experimenting nor theorizing; he was giving 
definite and practical instructions which are to be 
followed. In our view of humanity we must get 
above accidentals and treat man as man, infinitely 
valuable for what he is in himself. The disciples 
of Christ should surrender themselves to the law of 
love and carry Christian principles into society. 

In countries where hereditary caste prevails it is 
probable that any change will come slowly, but it 
will surely come. In the past the churches have 
helped to perpetuate it, but now that they are awa- 
king to the social significance of the example and 
teaching of Jesus, they have only to be in earnest in 
the matter and ere long they will see the walls of 
caste everywhere crumbling. 

In our homes children should be taught and 
trained in democracy. Servants should be treated 
as members of the family, so far as is consistent 
with the performance of their duties. Outside the 
home they should receive social recognition as 
human beings. 

In our schools we should guard against the 
growth of an aristocratic spirit. The greatest ob- 
jection to " fraternities " and " sororities " is that 
they are dangerous to democracy. Scholastic de- 
grees and caps and gowns have the same danger. 

Of all places in the world there should be perfect 
democracy in the churches. Of what earthly use 
is a Christian church that is antichristian in its 
life? In its worship, in its social life, in its 

K 



I46 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

election of officers, in its business affairs, a church 
should illustrate equality and fraternity. 

The vital question is, Are the disciples of Christ 
willing to follow him? Will they go along with 
him in his regard for man as man, in his contempt 
for accidentals, in his free association with all 
classes, in his disposition to serve, doing most for 
the neediest, and in his desire that all should be 
equal in opportunity? If they will they may see 
his kingdom coming in the relations of men to one 
another. 



IX 

PROPERTY 

IF the kingdom of Christ had fully come and 
his will were perfectly done among men would 
there be any rich people? Would there be any 
poor? Would there be equal distribution of prop- 
erty for private ownership? Would there be some 
form of socialism with all property, or nearly all, 
owned in common? All these questions have been 
asked many times and all have received affirmative 
answers from some students of the subject. But 
all such answers cannot be true, since some are con- 
tradictory of others. To learn the mind of the 
King in this matter requires careful study and ju- 
dicial weighing of opinions. 

There is no subject on which Jesus spoke with 
greater fulness, clearness, and emphasis than on the 
subject of money. There is abundant opportunity 
to know his mind with regard to the acquisition and 
uses of property if we are willing to study with 
care the materials at hand. Why did he so mag- 
nify this subject? It certainly was not because he 
was inclined to exalt wealth as the chief good, for 
his attitude toward that seems uniformly contemp- 
tuous. Plainly it was because he saw that man's 

147 



I48 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

greatest danger comes from such an exaltation of 
wealth. He makes it his god and dethrones Je- 
hovah that he may worship it. He tramples upon 
every principle of brotherhood and commits every 
conceivable crime against his fellow-man that he 
may acquire and use it for himself. Naturally, 
therefore, the words of Jesus on the subject are 
mostly words of warning. Moreover, he saw with 
perfect clearness that the kingdom of heaven could 
never come on the earth till men have right princi- 
ples and habits with regard to the acquisition and 
use of money. As the symbol of material good, 
money is so bound up with every phase of human 
life that the right adjustment of our relations to it 
is absolutely essential to the interests of the king- 
dom. The fact that a covetous man cannot go to 
heaven is important; far more important is the fact 
that heaven cannot come to a world of covetous 
men. 

Jesus did not urge his disciples to acquire wealth, 
neither did he tell them how to acquire it. " Put 
money in thy purse " was not one of his proverbs. 
All his efforts took another direction. In the first 
place he labored assiduously to impress upon the 
minds and hearts of his hearers the insignificance of 
material things as compared with higher interests. 
On one occasion, when he was discoursing on the 
great things of the kingdom, a man broke in with 
the request, " Speak to my brother, that he divide 
the inheritance with me " (Luke 12: 13-21). Prob- 



PROPERTY 149 

ably he had been wronged by his brother and felt 
that if Jesus were the Messiah he would right all 
wrongs. He could think of nothing else but the 
injustice his brother was doing him and the loss 
he was suffering in consequence. The manner in 
which Jesus refused his request and the parable 
which followed constitute a sharp rebuke of this 
covetous spirit. He said to him, " Man, who made 
me a judge or a divider over you? " To the com- 
pany he said : " Take heed and keep yourselves 
from covetousness : for a man's life consisteth not 
in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." 
Then follows the parable of the Rich Fool. This 
man gained his wealth by legitimate means. It 
came to him by the hand of a favoring providence. 
It was the fruit of his ground. No moral offense 
is charged against him. But because he made this 
wealth his treasure and proposed to hoard it and 
feed his soul with it, God called him a fool. He 
thought his life was in his possessions, and nothing 
could be more foolish than that. " So is he that 
layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich 
toward God." No doubt the wronged brother 
went away grieved and sore; let us hope that in 
time he learned the lesson that the life is not in 
the possessions. 

Jesus gave many discourses of the same general 
tenor. " Be not therefore anxious saying, what shall 
we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewithal 
shall we be clothed? for after all these things do 



I50 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

the Gentiles seek" (Matt. 6:25). He thus sharply 
distinguishes the Christian mind from the pagan 
mind. " But seek ye first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness " (Matt. 6:33). In his teaching 
Jesus always made money the least of values and 
spiritual good the greatest. In this respect he com- 
pletely reverses the world's judgment and sets a 
new standard for his disciples. 

We have already called attention to the fact that 
Jesus treated the rich and poor as though there were 
no difference between them. This social habit of 
his expressed his real feeling. There is no dif- 
ference between the two classes. Both are made 
up of human beings who are infinitely valuable in 
themselves, and whether they have little or much 
in the way of possessions is a fact entirely neg- 
ligible. Both in his words and in his actions he 
showed special sympathy for the poor; but that 
was because the rich were honored and the poor 
neglected. He was teaching a much-needed les- 
son and correcting a great wrong. If he had come 
into a world where the rich were hated and de- 
spised he would have shown special sympathy for 
the other side. In no case did he by word or deed 
intimate that he thought the poor were better than 
the rich. 

The teaching and example of Jesus seem to in- 
dicate that he did not consider the possession nor 
the want of property as very important in its rela- 
tions to his kingdom. Far too much is made of it 



PROPERTY 151 

by modern writers on Christianity and the social 
order. By many of them it is assumed that money 
is the basis of all caste and class distinctions and 
that if the distribution of property could be made 
right all social questions would be happily settled. 
It is largely true in the United States that social 
distinctions depend upon the possession of money 
or the want of it; but it is not true of other coun- 
tries, and the kingdom is to be world-wide. But 
even here too much is made of the money question 
in our discussions of the true social order. So far 
as Socialists assume that the millennium would im- 
mediately follow the adoption of some plan for the 
fair distribution of property — and many of them 
do seem to take that position — they are completely 
in the wrong. They thus ignore the really great 
questions of personal character and the spiritual 
life. And some Christian writers have fallen into 
the same error, and seem to assume that the social 
order and the industrial order are synonymous 
phrases and that the one thing necessary is to get 
the industrial order right. 

This does not seem to be the mind of Jesus. His 
thought goes deeper and rises higher. To him 
brotherhood between the rich and poor seemed pos- 
sible. When his followers become able to sympa- 
thize with him in his idea that man is of infinite 
value and that money is valuable only as it helps 
to develop stronger and better men, the problem of 
the relations between the rich and the poor will 



152 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

begin to be solved. Conceivably the kingdom might 
come and some be rich and some poor. Perhaps 
this is the great thought of Jesus. Would it not 
be possible if all had the same disregard of prop- 
erty which he had and could imitate his social 
habits? Did not James correctly apprehend the 
thought of his Lord when he said : " Let the brother 
of low degree glory in his high estate ; and the rich 
(brother glory) in that he is made low"? (James 
1 : 9, 10.) The meaning is that the poor brother is 
exalted because he has become a son of God with 
all the riches of love, peace, joy, strength, and hope 
which belong to his children; and the rich brother 
has come down from the place of honor which he 
had in the world on account of his wealth, count- 
ing it a shame to be honored for such a reason, and 
glories now in his divine sonship, placing himself 
on the same plane as that occupied by his poor 
brother. Thus they are one and the petty distinc- 
tion which before separated them is swallowed up 
in the larger life. 

But if this is not possible, if it is an ideal which 
can be realized only when human nature is wholly 
perfected, what is the best attainable condition 
with reference to the distribution of wealth which 
Christ contemplated? 

Much may be said in favor of the public owner- 
ship of property as the closest realization of the 
Christian ideal. There are several things in the 
life and teaching of Jesus which point to this as 



PROPERTY 153 

the ultimate settlement of the property question. 
The Twelve had a common purse. He said, " Sell 
that ye have and give alms " (Luke 12: 33), which 
would imply an attempt at distribution according 
to need. To the rich young ruler he said : " If thou 
wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give 
to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : 
and come and follow me" (Matt. 19:21). The 
first church at Jerusalem, acting under the presi- 
dency and direct leadership of the Holy Spirit, 
had property in common. "And not one said that 
aught of the things which he possessed was his 
own; but they had all things common " (Acts 4: 
^2). This community of goods at Jerusalem was 
not compulsory, neither was there any general law 
requiring it in the churches. At the same time we 
dare not say it was a mistake ; it was the outcome 
of a spirit of love which might become so strong 
and permanent as to make the isolated act the 
settled habit and the general custom. 

Could there be any surer way of curing the spirit 
of selfishness, greed, and avarice which is preva- 
lent, and which Christ so strongly deprecated, than 
to abolish private ownership by general agreement 
and to put all property into the possession of the 
people — that is, the State or nation? The great 
objection to it is that the desire to acquire and 
own property is the necessary incentive to initia- 
tive, enterprise, energy, and industry in the devel- 
opment of natural resources and the accumulation 



154 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

of wealth, without which a high degree of civiliza- 
tion is impossible. The objection would be valid 
and unanswerable if the chief end of man were to 
be a money-making animal. But where did Jesus 
say that man was to make the acquisition of wealth 
the great object of his existence? Every word 
that he spoke on the subject advocated exactly the 
opposite view of life. He said men are to " seek 
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." 
To love God, to love their fellow-men, to do good 
to others, to develop moral and spiritual charac- 
ter in themselves— according to Jesus these are the 
great ends of life. With divine insight and awful 
solemnity he warned men against the dangers of 
putting material good first. He spoke with con- 
tempt of wealth. We are not to conclude from 
this that Jesus did not perceive the value of civ- 
ilization and rightly estimate the importance of de- 
veloping and using natural resources for the com- 
fort of man. In the strong statements he made 
against wealth he was combating a common evil, 
correcting a prevalent error, and putting things 
before men's minds in their proper proportions. 
A civilization based upon the idea that wealth is 
the chief good is not a Christian civilization; it is 
satanic. We need a revolution in our habits of 
thought before we can stand with Christ in this 
matter. But if with him we assume that the ma- 
king of men and not the accumulation of wealth 
is the great object of human effort, might we not 



PROPERTY 155 

conclude that public ownership would be the best 
solution of the property question? 

Which is the higher type of man, the one who 
works with furious energy that he may amass a 
fortune for himself, or the one who works with 
patient devotion for the welfare of the people in 
his community or nation? The private ownership 
of property produces the former type; it seems 
very probable that public ownership would pro- 
duce the other. Which is the Christian plan? On 
the other hand we must consider the millions of 
people whose lives are made narrow and low by 
the hard struggle for existence in adverse circum- 
stances. Extreme poverty, especially poverty that 
is bitter and humiliating, is as likely to prevent 
one from entering the kingdom as the possession 
of wealth, and it affects a hundred times as many 
people. Think of what it would mean to relieve these 
millions from the haunting fear of want, from the 
care and anxiety, from the sense of injustice and 
failure, and from the consciousness of inability to 
care for their souls which darken their lives! If 
one stops to think of the evils that have been 
wrought by the present arrangement with regard 
to property, both in those who have too much and 
in those who have not enough, he can hardly avoid 
the conclusion that any change would be an im- 
provement. 

So far as any nation has tried the public owner- 
ship of property the results have been good. 



156 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Those institutions which do most for the upbuild- 
ing and perfection of human character are com- 
munistic. First in the list is the home. The title 
to the land, the house, and the furniture may be in 
one member of the family, but all the members 
feel that the home is theirs. It belongs to the 
wife as much as to the husband, to the children as 
much as to either. Every member has certain per- 
sonal belongings, but all have the home in common. 
And this communism is one of the reasons why the 
home is such a splendid means for the production 
of character. Might it not be practicable, so far as 
property is concerned, to extend that community 
to all the members of a nation, making it one great 
family ? 

Second in the list of institutions for the produc- 
tion of character is the public school. Here the 
communism is perfect. No one person owns the 
building or its equipment or employs the teachers. 
The property belongs to the people, the teachers 
are the servants of the people and employed through 
their agents. And the communistic idea is carried 
still farther. People who have property are taxed 
to educate the children of those who pay no taxes, 
and their protests are overborne by the common 
judgment. When public schools were first pro- 
posed they met with many objections: they were 
unjust to taxpayers ; they would usurp the proper 
functions of parents ; they would be productive 
of social evils; but in countries where they have 



PROPERTY 157 

been tried the sentiment is overwhelmingly in 
their favor. 

The church, the great agent for the development 
of religious and moral character, is also commu- 
nistic. Not any individual, but the people, own the 
property and employ the various servants of the 
churches. And this communism tends to the cul- 
tivation of brotherhood. 

Public ownership extends to prisons, reforma- 
tories, asylums, hospitals, poorhouses, institutions 
for defective classes, and to many buildings like 
court-houses, post-offices, custom-houses, and State 
and national capitols. It is not very long since 
roads and bridges were largely owned by individ- 
uals or corporations, but now they are generally 
public property. Cities are more and more in- 
clined to own and manage their own street-cars, 
water-works, lighting plants, and telephones. In 
some countries the people already own the rail- 
roads, the telegraphs, and the express business, and 
feel that they are better served than they would be 
by corporations. In nearly all civilized countries 
the carrying and distribution of mails is done by 
the government — that is, by the people. 

Now extend this movement toward public owner- 
ship till it includes farms, mines, factories, rail- 
roads, steamships, telegraphs, telephones, stores, 
shops, printing offices — in a word, all means of pro- 
duction, transportation, and public communication — 
and you have what is called socialism. A century 



I58 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

ago statesmen, preachers, and political economists 
would have been appalled at a suggestion to go in 
this direction so far as we have already gone. 
Since we have arrived at the present stage in safety 
and with immense profit, let us not be frightened 
at the tendency to go farther. We may well con- 
sider whether it is not the gospel of Christ and 
the Spirit of God working in the hearts of men 
for the establishment of the kingdom of heaven. 
The public ownership of property and cooperation 
in industries seems to consist best with Christ's plan 
of brotherhood and the reign of love as law. 

If this is Christ's way of settling the property 
question two or three things may be expected with 
a reasonable degree of certainty. The change from 
the present system must be made voluntarily by 
the people who are most directly concerned. It 
cannot be safely and permanently made by forcible 
spoliation of property owners. If this is Christ's 
plan a large majority will in due time come to see 
that it is best for the people and freely adopt it. 
Some may submit unwillingly, just as some sub- 
mitted to the establishment of the public schools ; 
but even they will at last be convinced that it is for 
the common good. 

The change must come gradually and probably 
by slow degrees. An attempt at sudden and violent 
revolution would produce chaos and delay the 
attainment of the goal. A condition which has 
existed for centuries is not quickly nor easily 



PROPERTY 159 

changed. " Vested interests/' that are supposed to 
rest upon natural and inalienable rights, can be 
overcome only by long and patient struggle. 
Furthermore, it should be remembered that such a 
change as this requires a radical and thorough 
change in the hearts of men. Christ's method, as 
we have already noted, is to make first a new man 
and then a new social order. Perhaps it would be 
more correct to say that the new social order grows 
out of the nature and needs of the new man. To 
make it safe to have the public ownership of prop- 
erty general would require a nation of people the 
majority of whom were honest and generous. One 
must have a large measure of the Christ spirit be- 
fore he will work as hard for the public good as he 
will for himself. Human character changes slowly; 
it takes centuries for one of Christ's ideas to find 
general acceptance and appear as public sentiment; 
the new birth, early training, true Christian life in 
the churches, and right public sentiment are all 
required to make the new man fitted for the new 
social order. 

A clear distinction should be made between the 
public ownership of property and an attempt at 
an equal distribution for private ownership. The 
latter plan is utterly impracticable and too absurd 
for notice. Neither does public ownership imply 
that every person will receive the same salary or 
be limited to the same expenditure for personal 
purposes. In an industrial order resting upon the 



l6o IF CHRIST WERE KING 

public ownership of property every one would 
be employed at the work for which he was best 
qualified and paid according to its value. All 
teachers in our public schools are not paid the 
same salary, neither are all employees of the post- 
office. 

It is not probable that public ownership will 
ever be extended so as to cover all property. In 
some forms private possessions will always be al- 
lowed and guaranteed by the community. If the 
means of production, transportation, and com- 
munication were to become public property, there 
are other forms of wealth which individuals could 
own. Self-respect and individuality could hardly 
be preserved unless there were some things one 
could call his own and which he could control. 
The instructions given in the New Testament to 
individual Christians as to how they shall use 
wealth seem to apply to all time. But the king- 
dom of heaven on earth unquestionably means, in 
its ultimate development, a form of society and a 
financial adjustment in which most kinds of prop- 
erty will be owned by the people and in which 
there will be no very rich persons and none in 
actual want or in dread of it. With a reasonable 
degree of ingenuity, industry, and economy this 
world will produce enough to keep all its inhab- 
itants in physical comfort and leave an abundant 
surplus for their higher needs. 

We have already intimated that the realization of 



PROPERTY l6l 

this ideal is in the distant future. Meanwhile, what 
is the will of the King concerning his subjects in 
regard to the use of their property? Many have 
interpreted his teaching and his course of life to 
mean that all who would really follow him must 
become and remain poor. But such teaching 
should be balanced by his instructions with regard 
to the right use of money, which leave us with a 
different resultant. Money is a trust which must 
be held and used for him. So used it may be a 
mighty power for the extension of the kingdom. 
The possession of some money is an important 
means of making more. If Christians must not hold 
property they cannot go into business, but must 
either become common laborers or enter the profes- 
sions. Thus the business of the world would be 
left for the ungodly, who would acquire the wealth 
and use it against the interests of the kingdom. 
For these reasons it is plain that followers of 
Christ may inherit or acquire property and hold it 
for Christian purposes. 

But in the acquisition of it there are certain laws 
which they must observe if they would be obedi- 
ent to the King. They should not become so ab- 
sorbed in money-getting as to neglect their own 
moral and spiritual welfare. They should not play 
the fool with their own souls; their first business 
is to get " rich toward God." They must " seek 
first the kingdom of God and his righteousness." 
There can be no taint of dishonesty or fraud in 

L 



l62 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

the business methods of a Christian. " They that 
will be rich " — that is, they who make this their 
first desire — " fall into temptation and a snare, and 
into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown 
men in destruction and perdition " (i Tim. 6:9). 
Against this awful danger Jesus warns his disciples 
in many loving but solemn words, and points out 
ways of escape which we shall have occasion to 
consider in a moment. The true disciple will never 
let " the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness 
of riches, . . choke the word, and it becometh 
unfruitful " in his soul. 

In the acquisition of wealth the Christian will 
never do anything to injure others. The law of 
the kingdom is love. We are to " do good to all 
men." The will of the King is that always and 
everywhere man is to be put before money — the 
welfare of man before the making of money. This 
reverses the world's method, but Christians exist 
for the purpose of reversing it. The subject of 
the King is absolutely barred from any business 
the prosecution of which does injury to the phys- 
ical, mental, moral, or religious welfare of men. 
He cannot justify himself for producing or sell- 
ing anything injurious on the ground that people 
want it, nor on the ground that others will sell it to 
them if he does not. Neither can a disciple of 
Christ follow methods in the prosecution of his 
business which will result in injury to others. 
For example, to put employees in conditions un- 



PROPERTY 163 

favorable to their health, to overwork or to under- 
pay them, to fail to make proper provision against 
accident, or to place them under temptation to do 
wrong, in order that the profits of the business 
may be increased, violates the law of Christ. If a 
Christian is to acquire money he must do it in 
righteousness and in love. 

A Christian who has money must recognize the 
fact that he holds it in trust. He is a steward of 
God. " Moreover, it is required in stewards, that 
a man be found faithful" (1 Cor. 4:2). He 
should carefully guard himself against the intru- 
sion of the thought that what he holds is really 
and absolutely his own. Practical recognition of 
stewardship is the only - consecration of property 
that is required or needed. If it is the Lord's and 
we realize the fact, we shall use it according to his 
will. Every dollar that comes into our possession 
must be subject to his orders. 

Perhaps that is all there is any need of saying 
on the subject of the distribution of property. But 
for the sake of removing some common misap- 
prehension a brief exposition of the thought may 
be added. It does not follow that because our 
property has been consecrated to the Lord all of 
it is to be used for religious purposes. He de- 
sires us to provide for the physical, mental, and 
social needs of ourselves and those dependent upon 
us. Homes, clothing, food, education, reading, 
recreation are legitimate objects of expenditure. 



164 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

How much may be expended on one's living must 
be left to the disciple's understanding of his Lord's 
will. Luxury, extravagance, display are certainly 
inconsistent with the position of a steward and 
with our Lord's view of the world's needs. Dives, 
living in luxury and splendor and forgetting Laz- 
arus at his gate, and finding the penalty of his 
selfish indifference in the torments of hell, is a type 
of all those who use their property selfishly and 
forget the needs of others, and his doom is a sol- 
emn warning against such inhumanity. (Luke 16: 

19-31;) 

Neither is a subject of the King allowed to 

hoard money. The passion for mere acquisition, 
for amassing a fortune for the sake of possessing 
it, is an unchristian passion. " Lay not up for 
yourselves treasures upon the earth " (Matt. 6: 19). 
" Be ye free from the love of money " (Heb. 13 : 5). 
" For the love of money is a root of all kinds of 
evil" (1 Tim. 6:10). The Christian may accu- 
mulate money to use in business, to provide rea- 
sonably for his own old age and for the future of 
his family, or to carry out some charitable or 
religious purpose, but he may not hoard it. Cov- 
etousness is idolatry, it is one of the basest of 
human passions, and it shows itself in its worst 
form in the person who hoards money. 

Our Lord demands that the kingdom shall have 
the first place in our interests and affections. 
" Seek ye first the kingdom of God." This means 



PROPERTY 165 

not only that we are to seek to enter it, but also 
that we are to seek to promote it in the world. It 
was for this purpose that Christ lived and died 
and rose again and gave the Holy Spirit and sent 
forth apostles and other preachers, and we cannot 
bear his name unless we have the same passion. 
When we have it we shall not hoard our money 
nor spend it for vain display and selfish indulgence, 
but shall use it for the kingdom. Some of it will 
go for missions, some for the support of pastors 
and churches, some for education, some for the 
distribution of Bibles and other good literature, 
and some for charity. It should always be remem- 
bered that the kingdom of heaven on earth is wider 
than the religious life of man. Money that helps 
men and women in any way to become better, 
stronger, wiser, happier is used for the kingdom. 
If we acquire money in righteousness and love, if 
we consecrate it to the Lord and reckon ourselves 
to be his stewards, holding all our property sub- 
ject to his orders, and thus use it for the purpose 
of extending his kingdom, we shall escape the dan- 
gers of worldliness and mammon-worship against 
which he so solemnly warned his disciples. So 
long as money is used as an instrument of service 
it does not endanger our spiritual welfare; on the 
contrary, it may thus be transmuted into eternal 
riches. 

A very important question for a subject of the 
kingdom is what he shall do with his wealth when 



1 66 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

death compels him to leave it? If he has children 
or others naturally dependent upon him it is clear 
that he should provide for their support. But if 
there are no dependents, if his daughters are well 
married and his sons well established in business, 
would it not be the will of the King that a large 
part of his fortune should go directly to promote 
the interests of the kingdom? There is another 
contingency which a faithful subject is bound to 
consider, but which seems to be rarely thought of: 
Suppose his natural heirs are non-Christian, en- 
emies of the kingdom who will use his wealth in 
a way to injure the cause of his Lord. Dare he 
put his property into their hands? Does a loyal 
servant give aid to the enemies of his master? 
Reasonable provision for their support he ought 
to make lest he violate the Lord's directions that 
parents are to care for their own, but beyond that 
he cannot go with his Master's property. More 
than the nearest human relatives we are to love 
our Lord and his kingdom. 

One word more should be said on this subject. 
There can be no question that the progress of the 
kingdom means the increase of wealth. If any one 
doubts this let him consider that the richest nations 
of the globe, and the nations in which property 
is most generally distributed among the people, are 
those which honor Christ. Compared with them 
the pagan nations are wretchedly poor. This in- 
crease of wealth will come in spite of the fact that 



PROPERTY 167 

Christ is always calling his disciples to think less 
of the material and more of the spiritual. And 
this is true because the waste of wickedness is so 
immeasurably great even in material resources. 
Men have wasted more on their passions and vices 
than they have used for good purposes. Think of 
the waste of war, of drunkenness and gluttony, of 
the opium and tobacco habits, and of luxury and 
extravagance among the rich and improvidence 
among the poor! As the kingdom progresses all 
forms of waste decrease. The wealth of the world 
would double in a very few years if war were to 
cease. The coming of the kingdom means the end 
of war. The progress of the kingdom means also 
steady increase in man's power to produce wealth, 
because it means better health, longer life, keener 
and stronger minds, greater capacity for work, and 
more industry. The indirect waste of idleness, 
sickness, feebleness, and early death is beyond 
computation. With an increase of producing 
power and decrease of waste there is no reason why 
the wealth of the world should not grow to un- 
dreamed-of proportions. At the same time there 
can be a decrease of working hours, especially for 
those who toil at hard and exhausting manual labor 
and a reservation of more time for study, social 
life, and recreation. 

Increase of wealth is accompanied with dangers 
for which Christianity furnishes the antidote. It 
provides both dynamic and wisdom for the right 



l68 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

distribution and the wholesome use of wealth. 
Where Christ reigns we are assured that all money 
will be acquired and used in ways which will pro- 
mote the highest welfare of man. Thus controlled 
and directed an increase of wealth means an in- 
crease of comfort, of happiness, of intellectual and 
spiritual life, and the development of a nobler civ- 
ilization than the world has yet seen. When Jesus 
said, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his 
righteousness and all these things shall be added 
unto you," he did more than to assure his disciples 
of God's providential care for their physical needs ; 
he stated a great economic and sociological law. 
On the condition he thus laid down the world can 
grow rich in material goods and in all the means 
of happiness and progress. 



X 

THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER 

THE principles which should govern the ac- 
quisition of money have been already suffi- 
ciently discussed. It remains for us to consider 
the general subject of labor, the relations of em- 
ployer and employed, and methods of conducting 
business. What is the will of the King on these 
subjects? Suppose that will to be done, what 
changes would be brought about in the industrial 
order and in the business world? 

The coming of the kingdom will not remove the 
necessity for labor. Those who have supposed 
that the reign of Jesus would mean universal 
plenty and unbroken ease have totally misunder- 
stood the nature of the kingdom. Perhaps at no 
time in his life was he so popular as during the 
period just after the two miracles of feeding the 
multitudes, in consequence of which some such 
notion as this had crept into the minds of the peo- 
ple. Some of his words may be construed to en- 
courage idleness and unthrift. " Seek not ye what 
ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink " (Luke 12 : 29). 
" Work not," more exactly, " do not busy your- 
selves for the food which perisheth " (John 6 : 

169 



170 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

27). "Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon 
earth" (Matt. 6:19). At first glance it looks 
as though he would have his followers abandon 
industry and forethought, and court poverty and 
dependence like Brahman priests or begging friars. 
But deeper study convinces us that he had no 
such intention. These strong statements simply 
illustrate his method of inducing his disciples to put 
first things first — to plan and labor less for ma- 
terial good and more for the spiritual. 

No word of Jesus, rightly understood, encour- 
ages idleness or the neglect of one's ordinary pur- 
suits. It is important to notice that nearly all the 
persons in his parables whom he commends are 
those who are diligent and faithful in their busi- 
ness. He always assumes that character, the great 
end of all living, may be developed by faith- 
fulness in doing one's everyday work. " Thou 
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make 
thee ruler over many things" (Matt. 25:21). He 
reveals no sympathy with the idea that the means 
of grace consist only of churchgoing, Bible study, 
prayer, and other religious exercises. These are 
good, indispensable to a Christian life; but useful 
work, faithfully done, is also a means of develop- 
ing character. And Jesus always puts the em- 
phasis on faithfulness. Fidelity with him ever 
commands a premium. It matters little what one 
does, provided he does it well and with a cheerful 
spirit. 



THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER 171 

Manual labor for the vast majority of people 
will doubtless continue " till the end of the age." 
And this should not be considered a misfortune. 
Such work under proper conditions is not a curse, 
but a blessing. That Jesus so regarded it may be 
fairly inferred from both his example and his pre- 
cepts. It is practically certain that he was em- 
ployed four times as many years in manual labor 
as he gave to his public ministry. The Twelve 
were called from the ranks of busy workers. Paul, 
the greatest of the Christian apostles, had a trade 
and mingled work at it with his missionary labors. 
It does not follow that every one should do the 
same, but it does follow that the religion of Jesus 
gives no encouragement to idleness. The progress 
of the kingdom means the growth of industry. 
It is no part of its purpose to put an end to work. 
Neither does it discourage any legitimate effort for 
the increase of wealth. But the coming of the 
kingdom will greatly change the conditions under 
which men are forced to labor. The influence of 
Christianity has already brought wonderful im- 
provement in this direction and greater improvement 
is close at hand. Labor is a divine arrangement; 
the evils of labor are man-made, outgrowths of 
greed and cruelty, and can be removed. 

Suppose that socialism, or collectivism, should 
become the industrial order, how would the world's 
work be done ? There are those who tell us that it 
could not be done at all. It is said that if people 



172 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

are allowed to choose their own work, all will in- 
sist upon having the easy and pleasant jobs and 
that no one could be found to take the hard and 
disagreeable work which is absolutely essential to 
the existence of society. On the other hand, if 
people were appointed to certain tasks and com- 
pelled to do them, they would be under a tyranny 
more bitter than that of capitalism. But this is to 
suppose conditions which no one contemplates and 
which can never exist. But assume that collectiv- 
ism rests upon a rational basis and that it embodies 
the ripe wisdom of Christianized thinkers and lead- 
ers, and these difficulties disappear. No one can 
prophesy exactly what the plan will be; only the 
Omniscient can foresee the details. Getting what 
light we can from the teaching of Jesus and from 
the history of society under Christian influence, we 
may venture to suggest a possible outline. On this 
plan all would be obliged to work unless disabled, 
and all would be servants of the people. Nothing 
like physical compulsion would be necessary in the 
case of most persons. They would work because 
they had been trained to do it and because they 
desired to help on the world's work and serve the 
community. If, in a few cases, these motives were 
insufficient, they would be supplemented by the 
fear of disgrace which would surely fall upon the 
idle in such a state of society. 

The distribution of work would not be attended 
with insuperable difficulties. Parents and teachers 






THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER I73 

would try to discover early the kind of work in 
which every child was likely to be most efficient, 
and children would be educated and trained for 
the work indicated for them by their endowments 
and their natural bent. Such a course is not in- 
consistent with the fullest recognition of personal 
preference and ambition. If the young person 
gave promise of " making good," the people would 
employ him to do the work for which he was fitted 
by birth and training and pay him according to the 
value of his work. If his early efforts were not 
successful, and there was little or no promise of 
improvement, some other employment would have 
to be found. Such a change ought to be possible 
early enough to save the life from complete fail- 
ure. Thus statesmen, preachers, teachers, lawyers, 
physicians, authors, editors, artists, musicians, ar- 
chitects, builders, bankers, manufacturers, mer- 
chants, farmers, mechanics, engineers, miners, rail- 
road men, factory operatives, laborers, domestic 
servants, and all other kinds of workers would be 
secured for the people. Those who developed ex- 
traordinary ability would become chiefs of depart- 
ments, " captains of industry," leaders in the pro- 
fessions, and the great producers in literature, art, 
and inventions. 

Once the difficulties of adjustment were over- 
come there would be enormous advantage in such 
an industrial order. Every one would work in 
his chosen calling and find in it full scope for his 



174 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

powers. There would not be so many trying to 
do work for which they were not fitted and in which 
they could never achieve success. Misdirected en- 
ergy, waste of effort, poor work, and life-failures 
would be in large measure avoided. 

One of the tragic elements of the present indus- 
trial order is the problem of the unemployed. In 
the most highly civilized countries there are thou- 
sands of people — in times of financial depression 
the number rises to millions — who want work and 
cannot find it, and who, with their families, must 
suffer want or receive charitable aid. With such 
aid enforced idleness is likely to become idleness 
from choice, and thus the great army of paupers 
and tramps is steadily recruited. At the same time 
half the world is without the ordinary comforts of 
life which these unemployed could produce if only 
work were found for them. On the plan we are 
considering none would lack employment and no 
calling or profession would be overcrowded. 
Proper officers could decide when there were suffi- 
cient workers of any class and close that depart- 
ment of labor till there was need of more. 

In the rewards and honors sure to follow every 
one would have sufficient stimulus to do the best 
work of which he was capable. Work would be 
paid in proportion to the real value of its product 
to the people. Perhaps also the difficulty of doing 
the work — the amount of brain power, of nervous 
energy, and of physical force which it exhausts — 



THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER 175 

should be taken into account in measuring its com- 
pensation. But certainly work which ministers to 
the higher needs of the people and tends to im- 
prove them in religion, in morals, in mental power, 
and in esthetic sensibility should be as well paid 
as work which feeds or clothes the body or work 
which provides amusement and recreation. In an 
ideal industrial order baseball players or star per- 
formers in a circus would not be paid more than 
university presidents or great preachers. 

The highest reward for work under such condi- 
tions would be the consciousness of every faithful 
worker that he was doing something for the gen- 
eral good. There are services for which money 
does not compensate — the best it can do is to ex- 
press the people's sense of the value of the work. 
The higher reward is in doing good work that will 
help mankind. 

While this seems to be the industrial order which 
most closely conforms to the ideas of Jesus, it is a 
dream of the distant future. Meanwhile subjects 
of the King must face present conditions and ask 
themselves what they can do to improve them. In 
the Western world the most conspicuous feature of 
these conditions is conflict between capital and 
labor. The causes and history of this conflict are 
so familiar as to call for no extended discussion. 
The multiplication of inventions has revolutionized 
the methods of productive labor. A century ago 
almost everything was done by hand; now by far 



I76 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

the larger part of the work in Western nations is 
done by machinery. This has seemed to necessi- 
tate the building of factories and the collection of 
workers into groups to man them — sometimes 
thousands in a single building. To erect and equip 
a factory, to purchase raw material, to pay the 
workers, and to provide for the sale of the product 
requires a large aggregation of money. Thus we 
have a wealthy individual or corporation on one 
side as employer and a multitude of people on the 
other side working for wages. 

One striking and important result of this move- 
ment has been the specialization of labor. Formerly 
a family on a farm in this country was largely in- 
dependent of every one outside of it. They could 
grow and manufacture their own food, clothing, 
fuel, lights, and even their furniture. In mechan- 
ical pursuits one man would do enough things to 
constitute now several trades. In factories espe- 
cially every person has one thing to do and knows 
how to do only that. This limitation places him 
at the mercy of his employer, since if he loses 
work in his specialty he cannot turn to another 
occupation. Similar conditions prevail in railroad, 
mining, telegraph, telephone, and construction com- 
panies. 

It was inevitable that in these conditions con- 
flict between employer and employee should arise. 
It was natural that the former should seek to get 
the largest possible amount of labor for the least 



THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER I77 

possible money paid in wages. The growing in- 
telligence of employees, their perception of the vast 
productiveness of modern machinery and methods, 
the birth of the spirit of liberty, and a dawning 
sense of the rights of man have made them feel 
that they were not getting their share of the prod- 
uct and resolve to demand a more just division. 
This demand has generally been refused by em- 
ployers and war has been the result. 

The methods of warfare are familiar to every 
well-informed person. By organization of unions, 
by concerted action of vast numbers, by strikes, by 
boycotts, by violence against strike-breakers, and 
other means employees have endeavored to enforce 
their demands. Employers have resisted them by 
using the power of capital to starve the laborers 
into submission, by combinations among themselves, 
by efforts to secure special legislation, by tamper- 
ing with courts, by lockouts, and by employing non- 
union labor. There have been lawlessness, injus- 
tice, bitterness of feeling, and cruelty on both sides. 

Efforts to avoid the enormous waste and the in- 
tense suffering of such methods have led to arbi- 
tration in some cases, either by individuals or by 
courts. Some countries have made permanent pro- 
vision for such arbitration. But it is doubtful 
whether these attempts have done much to im- 
prove the feeling between the two classes. Still 
the war goes on, a shame and a reproach to the 
civilization of western Europe and America. It 

M 



I78 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

should be said, however, that a growing number 
of employers treat their employees with such fair- 
ness and generosity as to avoid discontent and 
strikes. Such employers have been willing to give 
living wages, fair assurance of the safety and 
health of their employees, the Sabbath rest, and 
a reasonable number of holidays, and care for their 
mental, moral, and social welfare. Such treat- 
ment is due to the growth of Christian sentiment in 
respect to the value of man. 

Of course, we must recognize the fact that this 
conflict is only one phase — probably a transient and 
local phase — of the great industrial problem. An 
early phase of it was slavery, when the few owned 
the many, buying and selling them as we buy and 
sell horses and cattle. In Europe a later phase 
was feudalism. While the feudal lords did not own 
their retainers and servants, they had an absolute 
control of them which would not now be tolerated 
in civilized countries. Russia is just struggling 
out of feudalism, and there the industrial problem 
is very different from ours. India and China, 
which contain more than one-third of the human 
race, have conditions quite different from those of 
the Occident and in some respects much worse. 
There starvation wages and an intense, bitter strug- 
gle for bare existence are the fate of millions of 
toilers. 

What Jesus has to say on the industrial order 
is applicable to all races and all times. But since 



THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER 1 79 

our problems are ours we may properly ask 
whether we can find in his teaching wisdom for 
their solution. The East is learning from the 
West, from the West to the East go Christian mis- 
sionaries; perhaps, if we can find and adopt the 
right industrial order, Oriental nations will adopt 
something like it without the long and painful 
struggle through which we have passed in Europe 
and America. 

We shall not find in the teaching of Jesus a com- 
pleted scheme for the industrial order. If he had 
presented such a machine, men would have tried to 
work it before they were qualified. The method of 
Jesus is exactly the reverse, — first new men, then 
the new industrial order. Only thus is there hope 
of success. Beyond this he simply lays down cer- 
tain broad, general principles like the law of love, 
the value of man as man, the transcendent impor- 
tance of the spiritual, and the comparative insig- 
nificance of wealth, and then insists that church 
life, social customs, the industrial order, and civil 
government shall conform to these principles. 

The standard of success which our Lord sets up 
is very different from that of the modern business 
world. We call a business successful when it pays 
large financial profits; Jesus would call it success- 
ful if it helped to develop and elevate human char- 
acter and added somewhat to the sum of human 
happiness. He always insists that we shall sub- 
ordinate profit to personality, since man is more 



l80 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

than money. What is the effect on character of 
factory life, of railroading, of mining, and of sim- 
ilar kinds of work carried on by large aggregations 
of men and women under the control of a wealthy 
individual or a great corporation? Undoubtedly 
the leaders gain energy, courage, grasp of mind, 
power of organization, and foresight, and these are 
good qualities if they are well used; but how is it 
with the many, the great masses of employees? 
Are they not made narrow, dull, unaspiring by the 
routine, the limitations, and the mechanical charac- 
ter of their work? Have they the quickness, the 
breadth, the power of initiative and of adaptation 
which men and women had when they were taught 
to do many things and practised what they 
learned? Is it not true that where multitudes are 
thrown together in factories and department stores 
the morals of the good are often contaminated? 
If the general tendency of the present industrial 
order is to narrow and debase mankind, it stands 
condemned, no matter how great its material 
product may be. 

This feature of the industrial problem does not 
receive the attention it deserves. One phase of it 
is Sunday labor. All men and women need the 
weekly Sabbath. No need is deeper, no demand 
of our nature is more imperative. All toilers need 
it for physical rest ; all need it for religious, moral, 
and social culture ; those not engaged in intellectual 
pursuits need it for mental improvement. Jesus 



THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER l8l 

said, " The Sabbath was made for man," meaning 
that it is an institution which was established for 
his good. It is a precious boon of which no one 
ought to be robbed. To take it from men is al- 
most equivalent to robbing them of their hope of 
salvation, since it is on Sunday that they can hear 
the gospel. And yet, in this so-called Christian 
country, millions of men and women are deprived 
of all Sabbath privileges by the greed of their fel- 
low-men. The railroad and street-car companies, 
the newspapers, and the crowds that demand Sun- 
day amusements are the worst sinners in this re- 
spect. Here is one of the great wrongs of work- 
ing people to which they are not themselves fully 
awake. It does not meet the need to grant them 
one day in seven for rest and recreation. That 
arrangement ignores their religious needs, which 
come first according to the law of Christ. That 
concession in very slight degree mitigates the evil 
of breaking down the Sabbath as a religious insti- 
tution. 

In regard to the present conflict between capi- 
tal and labor it is safe to say that two good results 
will follow the acceptance of Christ's reign. The 
first is justice. This is necessarily the basis of all 
right relations between man and man. Brother- 
hood cannot rest upon a foundation of injustice. 
In the case before us it is common to assume that 
all the wrong has been on the side of capital, but 
that is far from being true. If employers are 



1 82 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

obliged to pay a fair day's wages for a day's work 
the employee should give the day's work. But 
every one knows the tendency of men to shirk and 
idle when they can do so with impunity. Not more 
than one in five will do as much as he ought if 
they are not watched. In certain trades the unions 
do employers great injustice by fixing the maximum 
amount of work a man is allowed to do in a day. 
The unions are also unjust in refusing to employers 
the right to employ workmen wherever they can 
find them. Justice requires that employers should 
pay as large wages as their business will permit and 
the employees should earn their wages. 

The second is love. Human relations should 
never rest on justice alone, essential as that is. 
Something more is needed to make life sunny and 
our relations with others easy, and that something 
is love. Employers who love their employees will 
have and show an interest in their welfare. In 
many cases they can and do provide them with 
reading-rooms, playgrounds, lectures, and various 
forms of entertainment. They can show that they 
regard them as human beings and not simply as 
" hands." If employees love their employers they 
will have constant regard for their interests, be 
willing to do more work than their contract calls 
for when necessary, and safeguard their property 
as far as possible. Where love is there will be 
brotherhood; where brotherhood is there will be 
no war. 



THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER 183 

In Europe and America various expedients look- 
ing to final adjustment have been tried. Among 
them is cooperation, which has been successful 
when those joining in the business have brought to 
it integrity, breadth of mind, and a spirit of self- 
sacrifice. When these qualities have been absent 
failure has been invariable, showing conclusively 
that collectivism is not practicable till men are 
fitted for it by the new birth and Christian training. 
Another expedient is profit-sharing, which seems to 
work well for both sides. What the employers lose 
in direct profits they more than regain by the 
greater efficiency of the workmen, and the latter 
are more contented. 

Much has been done to improve the condition 
of working people during the last century. These 
improvements have reached the sanitary condition 
of mines and factories, safety appliances not only 
in these industries, but also on railroads and steam- 
ships, the number of hours constituting a day's 
work, the partial abolition of injurious child labor, 
wages, the homes of wage-earners and their com- 
forts, and their social and moral state. Much re- 
mains to be done along the same lines. There is 
still room for improvement in safeguarding the lives 
and health of working people. In some industries 
the hours of labor are still too long. The question 
how many hours a day people should be obliged to 
work under ideal conditions has been much dis- 
cussed. Suppose everybody to work, suppose all 



184 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

forms of waste to be reduced to a minimum, sup- 
pose labor-saving machinery to be the largest pos- 
sible factor in production, and suppose the products 
of labor to be fairly distributed, how short could the 
working-day be made and still the output be suffi- 
cient to give everybody all the necessities and com- 
forts of life? Some socialistic writers have fig- 
ured that in such conditions, not more than an hour 
or two a day would be necessary. It does not seem 
that it will ever be possible to make a hard-and-fast 
rule. In some callings, as in farming, canning, and 
water transportation in cold climates, for example, 
it is necessary at some seasons to work long hours, 
while at other seasons the toilers have little to do. 
Some occupations exhaust the strength much 
more rapidly than others, and in them a working- 
day should be shorter than in those which are more 
endurable. But in ideal industrial conditions no one 
would need to work more than eight hours a day, 
and in the case of more exhausting occupations the 
day could, no doubt, be limited to four or five hours. 
The remainder of the time could be spent in study, 
in recreation, in social enjoyment, in doing good 
to others, and in religious devotions. We still 
have child labor, which is fatal to the physical 
growth and mental development of the children. 
While, in some lines of industry, wages seem to 
have reached the limit of increase, the great masses 
of working men and working women are still under- 
paid. There are still " sweat-shops. " in which 



THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER 185 

men, women, and children, for starvation wages, 
toil long hours in unsanitary conditions that are 
deadly. There is a vast amount of Sunday labor — 
it is to be feared an increasing amount — which is 
wholly unnecessary, which is forced only by avarice 
and greed. These and other evils of our industrial 
system must be corrected, and will be as the king- 
dom advances. 

These improvements will come in the same way 
as those of the past have been gained. Some must 
come because demanded by public sentiment ex- 
pressed in legislation. Others will come through 
the cultivation of Christian feeling by employers. 
In either case the change will be due to the influ- 
ence of Christianity. Working people who turn 
from this to any source of help will retard indefi- 
nitely the coming of the very thing they desire. 
Improvement in these matters began as soon as the 
disciples of Christ began to realize the social mean- 
ing of the gospel, and the progress of the king- 
dom of heaven on earth means the attainment of 
better conditions for all toilers. An ideal industrial 
order can be secured and maintained only by a 
force which can create and nourish noble character. 
That force can be found only in the religion of 
Jesus Christ. 

The facts and theories stated in this chapter 
find convincing illustration in the history of mod- 
ern missions. As a rule, savage and barbarous 
tribes are shockingly lazy. We are all naturally 



l86 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

lazy and need a keen sense of the results of labor 
to induce us to work. The uncivilized races have 
no vision of the good things labor might bring 
them, and so are content to exist in idleness. 
Hunting, fishing, gathering fruits which grow 
spontaneously, thieving, and robbery are their chief 
occupations. Such drudgery as may be necessary 
they compel the women to do. But when they re- 
ceive the gospel and become Christians they are 
made industrious. They learn the blessing of labor. 
They till the soil, they build homes, they learn vari- 
ous kinds of manufacturing. Wealth and comfort 
begin to displace poverty and want. Missionaries 
testify that with few exceptions these are among 
the results of accepting Christ as Saviour and 
Lord. 

For centuries the people of India have been 
wretchedly poor. This poverty has not been due 
to any paucity of natural resources. It has been 
caused by the rapacity of native princes, and by 
the lack of inventiveness, energy, enterprise, and 
honesty on the part of the people. Christ is con- 
quering India by two methods. Important ele- 
ments of Christian civilization have been imposed 
upon the country by British authority. At the 
same time missionaries are preaching the gospel 
and teaching the precepts of the Christian religion 
to the people. One result is that they are learn- 
ing how to work, how to conserve their natural re- 
sources, and how to use machinery. The wealth 



THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER 187 

of the country is increasing, it is better distributed 
and the people are more comfortable. Only a be- 
ginning has been made, but the good work will go 
on till India, in common with every other country 
on the globe, will have, under the reign of Christ, 
an ideal industrial order. 

Little space remains in which to discuss the re- 
lations of the kingdom to other forms of secular 
business. There is less need to consider it at 
length, because it has been touched upon in pre- 
vious chapters. For one thing the kingdom means 
honesty in all kinds of business. Men who yield 
to the rule of Christ abandon cheating. Farmers 
will not pack poor apples in the middle of the bar- 
rel and good ones at the ends. Fruit-growers will 
not use baskets with double bottoms. Manufac- 
turers of food products will not adulterate them 
or deceive in weights and measures. Makers of 
cloth will not sell " shoddy " for woven fabrics, nor 
will they call cotton wool nor wool silk. Shoes 
will not be put on the market with paper where 
there should be honest leather. Merchants and 
traders of all kinds will ask only fair prices for 
their goods and will tell customers what they 
are buying. Middlemen and trusts will not be al- 
lowed to rob producers on the one hand and con- 
sumers on the other. Railroads and steamboats 
managed by the people will serve the people rather 
than a few plutocrats. All transfers of property 
will be made on the basis of a fair equivalent. 



1 88 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Men who sell worthless " stocks " to the unwary, 
if such men continue to exist, will be punished as 
the meanest of criminals. The gambling element 
which is now so demoralizing will be taken out of 
business and all deals will be actual transfers of 
property. People who buy labor or other com- 
modities will pay their debts and pay them 
promptly. They will not, through carelessness, 
which is sometimes worse than cruelty, leave their 
creditors to suffer for want of money fairly due. 
One can hardly imagine what a different world we 
would live in if only common honesty became 
universal. 

Under the reign of Christ injustice, cruelty, and 
oppression in business will not be tolerated. Men 
of power, whether they gain their power by su- 
perior ability or by combinations with others, will 
not crush out weak rivals by unfair methods. 
Men who follow nefarious practices in business 
will not be able to gain respectability among Chris- 
tian people — even applause from leaders of the 
churches — by endowing schools, building free li- 
braries, and making large contributions to missions. 

There is one department of commerce which has 
special relation to the world-wide extension of the 
kingdom. The great trading nations of the world 
are the so-called Christian nations. As a rule, in 
their relations with non-Christian peoples, the in- 
terests of commerce have been the first considera- 
tion and have come before justice and kindness. 



THE INDUSTRIAL ORDER 189 

In some cases they have opposed missionary ef- 
fort in behalf of those with whom they were tra- 
ding. The British East India Company would not 
allow missionaries in the territory which it con- 
trolled in India nor would it carry them in their 
vessels. The directors of that company contended 
that efforts to preach Christ to those peoples would 
be injurious to trade and were satisfied with them- 
selves as good Christians. At the present time the 
British government is opposed to the evangeliza- 
tion of Mohammedans in the Soudan for substan- 
tially the same reason. The government of the 
United States has allowed the sale of intoxicating 
liquors to non-Christian and barbarous peoples — 
especially the peoples of Africa — indifferent to the 
fact that it was thus hindering the Christianization 
and civilizing of those peoples. If we could real- 
ize the burning indignation of our Lord against 
such outrageous wrongs, if we could see how anti- 
christian and infernal it is to prefer money to 
men, perhaps we would put an end to such prac- 
tices. When " business " is preferred to the inter- 
ests of the kingdom it is time for " business " to 
stop or be reformed. 

The habits and influence of individual traders 
in non-Christian countries have been even worse. 
Their personal immoralities and their dishonesty 
in trading have sadly scandalized the religion to 
which they are supposed to adhere. Of course, 
they do no missionary work; they are not propa- 



I90 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

gandists of the Christian faith. In this respect 
they are in sad contrast with the adherents of other 
religions. It is said that the Mohammedan traders 
in Africa are all zealous preachers of their faith, 
and make converts wherever they go. And the 
antichristian influence of traders from Christian 
lands seems all the more monstrous when viewed 
in the light of the fact that much of their oppor- 
tunity for traffic with non-Christian peoples is due 
to the labors of our own missionaries. They open 
these countries to commerce, make markets for 
goods we desire to sell, and bring to light what 
we wish to buy, and then our traders undo or 
hinder their religious work. 

In fairness it should be said that not all traders 
from Christian lands are of this class, and we are 
glad to believe their number is decreasing. More 
and more commerce is falling into the hands of 
Christian men who will at least deal fairly by those 
with whom they trade. But enough has been said 
to make us feel the need of praying that commerce, 
which is so largely the fruit of the Christian re- 
ligion, may itself be Christianized both at home and 
abroad. God hasten the day when Christian mer- 
chants and traders will go to every land, not only 
to illustrate the principles of the kingdom in their 
business, but also to preach Christ to those who, as 
yet, are ignorant of his salvation. 



XI 

THE FAMILY 

THE subject naturally divides itself into two 
parts — the family as a social institution and 
the domestic life of the family. They are really 
two distinct topics, and there is no inherent ne- 
cessity for considering them together. The for- 
mer gives rise to the question whether the family 
as the primary social group will persist or whether 
it will be superseded by some other form of organ- 
ization. The latter pertains to the life which the 
family shall live in itself, the relations and obli- 
gations of the members of the same family to one 
another. But both are closely related to the king- 
dom of heaven on earth and may be discussed to- 
gether in connection with it. 

If the early history of the human race which we 
have in the Bible is trustworthy the family is a 
divine institution. It is not the product of evolu- 
tion and experiment, as some modern writers 
aver. 1 Whatever may have been the process by 
which man's body was formed, there is no good 
ground for saying that the moral qualities which 
make the husband, the wife, the parent are the 

1 Henry Drummond, in his book on Evolution. 

191 



192 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

result of countless ages of evolution. If there is 
any evidence that among primitive and prehistoric 
peoples promiscuity was the habit and the care of 
children was left wholly to the mother, it is far 
more likely that they had lapsed from a higher 
state, falling thus to the condition of wild beasts, 
than that these were the original relations of the 
sexes and of parents and children. 

If our Bible is true, as soon as man came to 
self-consciousness, as soon as God " breathed into 
his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a 
living soul " (Gen. 2\j), that institution in which 
one man is joined for life to one woman began. 
"Male and female created he them " (Gen. 1:27; 
5:2). The woman was made to be a " helpmeet " 
for the man. And the first man said of the first 
woman, " This is now bone of my bones, and flesh 
of my flesh " (Gen. 2:23). And the writer adds: 
" Therefore shall a man leave his father and his 
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they 
shall be one flesh " (Gen. 2:24). The different 
records which were combined to make the book of 
Genesis present no divergence on this subject. Jesus 
accepts and reiterates these statements and says that 
marriage, as the union for life of one man and one 
woman, was the order " from the beginning of 
the creation " (Mark 10:6-9). It 1S h ar d to see 
how this leaves any room for the evolutionary and 
experiential origin of the institution. In every- 
thing that Jesus says on the subject he honors the 



THE FAMILY 193 

family relation and assumes that monogamy and 
permanent marriage are its natural foundation. 

There is no deviation from this platform in the 
teaching of the apostles. Among certain " doc- 
trines of devils " (1 Tim. 4:3) which Paul men- 
tions is " forbidding to marry." It is fair to infer 
from such a statement that he regarded marriage 
as a divine institution. The writer of the Epistle 
to the Hebrews says that " marriage is honorable 
in all" (Heb. 13:4). It is always assumed that 
the relation is for life. Monogamy was recognized 
as the proper rule. It seems probable that when 
pagans who were polygamous were converted to 
Christ they were not required to put away their 
extra wives before being received into church-mem- 
bership, but it was understood that their cases were 
exceptional. They were church-members with a 
condition and not of the first rank; for Paul ex- 
pressly states that a pastor or a deacon must be " a 
husband of one wife" (1 Tim. 3:2). 

No reader of either the Old Testament or the 
New can fail to be impressed with the fact that 
the writers of both understood marriage to be a 
divine institution. We may assume, therefore, that 
under the reign of Christ the family will continue. 
So entirely is this taken for granted by most peo- 
ple that they will be surprised to have any question 
raised concerning it. Who can doubt, they will 
ask, the divine origin and the age-long permanence 
of so beneficent an institution as the family ? And 

N 



194 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

yet there are two strong tendencies in modern life 
which threaten its continued existence. And it is 
surprising to note that both these tendencies owe 
their origin, in part, to the influence of Chris- 
tianity. 

One of them is extreme socialism. Radical So- 
cialists group the family with capitalism and make 
it a part of the present social and industrial order 
which they say must be destroyed. They state 
their argument in this fashion : If a man has a fam- 
ily he will desire to work for it and be unwilling to 
work for the community or State. Marriage made 
permanent by law is a sort of tyranny which free 
men and women cannot tolerate. Few parents are 
properly qualified to care for and train their chil- 
dren. For these reasons it is better that the fam- 
ily should be abolished. As a substitute for mar- 
riage they would have a temporary personal con- 
tract between man and woman, to be dissolved at 
the will of either. They propose that all children 
shall be cared for in institutions provided and 
maintained by the State. 

It is hardly necessary to argue against such a 
plan. One can easily see how such a relation of 
the sexes would result in plotting, intrigue, vio- 
lence, and even social anarchy. Although a State 
institution might be manned with skilful and care- 
fully trained nurses and teachers, it could never 
do for children what a Christian family can do. 
The family is too deeply rooted in the needs of 



THE FAMILY IQ5 

human nature and too strongly buttressed by the 
teaching of Jesus to suffer overthrow by such doc- 
trines. Their origin may be traced to the habit 
which a certain school of Socialists has acquired of 
carrying to an extreme some of the ideas of Jesus 
without applying the corrective to be derived from 
other teaching of the same Master. 

Another danger to the family is from exagger- 
ated individualism. In the teaching of Jesus we 
find that he placed infinite value upon the indi- 
vidual soul, that he made every human being di- 
rectly and personally responsible to God regard- 
less of his parentage and of his national or ec- 
clesiastical relations, and that his care was first of 
all for the personal life. It was inevitable that 
under the influence of such teaching the old theory 
of the individual's absorption in the State or the 
church should fade away and that individualism 
should become prominent in the thought and life 
of Christian peoples. But they should be saved 
from exaggerated individualism by the social teach- 
ing of Jesus, by the doctrine that a Christian life in 
isolation is impossible and that it is just as impor- 
tant for a man to be right with his fellow-men as 
it is for him to be right with God. But this cor- 
rective has not always been applied. 

The unit of modern society is not the family, but 
the individual. The family group is no longer re- 
garded as having supreme importance. In nearly 
every important matter the State reckons with the 



I96 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

individual, not with the family. Many important 
functions which formerly belonged to the family 
are now fulfilled by the State or the church. Sec- 
ular education is given in public schools. Religious 
culture and training are furnished mainly by Sun- 
day-schools. Neither gets the attention in the fam- 
ily which it once received from that source. 

In past times the general feeling has been that 
the only sphere of life open to women was marriage 
and the care of a family. That or isolation from 
men in a convent for the service of the church was 
her manifest destiny. Now women are reckoned as 
independent individuals. They jostle with men in 
the professions, in trade, in factories, and in other 
callings. Earning their own money, they need not 
marry, and many prefer the single life. 

It used to be thought that in order to have the 
ordinary comforts of life it was necessary to have 
a home, but that is no longer true. More and more 
provision is made, especially in cities, for people to 
live without homes. Thousands of bachelors of 
both sexes find material comforts in abundance, and 
think of marriage as likely to decrease them. Thus 
we have set ourselves to inventing means by which 
we may eliminate the family and still live in com- 
fort. 

But exaggerated individualism endangers the 
family chiefly through the ideas of marriage which 
it creates and fosters. It causes men and women 
to look upon marriage as a relation to be entered 



THE FAMILY I97 

into solely for their own convenience and happi- 
ness. The family as related to the welfare of so- 
ciety and the State has no place in their thoughts 
and plans. The social obligations which rest upon 
every man and woman to found a family and to 
rear children, when such a course of life is prac- 
ticable, they do not feel at all. 

This view of marriage inevitably leads to de- 
mands for easy divorce, and to frequent divorce 
when convenient laws have been passed. If mar- 
riage is solely for the convenience and pleasure of 
the " contracting parties " why should it not be 
dissolved when these purposes are no longer 
served ? Students of social conditions in this coun- 
try are amazed at the number and rapid increase 
of divorces. During the twenty years from 1867 
to 1886, inclusive, 328,716 divorces were granted 
in the United States. In the corresponding period 
from 1887 to 1906 the number rose to 945,625. 
That this increase was not due simply to increase 
of population is shown by the fact that in the for- 
mer period there were 38 divorces to every 100,000 
of population while in the latter there were 73. 
Taking single years, in 1867 there were 9,937 di- 
vorces; in 1886, 25,535, and in 1906, 72,062. 

In this respect we easily outrank every other civ- 
ilized and Christian country on the globe. This is 
exactly what might be expected from the exag- 
gerated individualism and the ideas of personal 
liberty which we have here developed. Of course, 



I98 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

frequent divorces are largely due to hasty and indis- 
creet marriages. Young people enter into this rela- 
tion without proper consideration of its importance 
and with still less thought on the wisdom or folly 
of their choice of a life companion. Finding them- 
selves unhappily married, they make haste to have 
the irksome bond broken. And many people are 
married who are totally unfitted to live in a close re- 
lation with any other human being. They would be 
unhappy single and are sure to make unhappy any 
one tied to them. Such people often want a divorce 
in order that they may try another experiment, 
when what they really need is the transformation of 
their own characters. 

The utterance of Jesus on the subject of mar- 
riage and divorce is clear and emphatic. (Matt. 5: 
32; 19: 3-9; Mark 10: 2-12; Luke 16: 18.) And this 
teaching derives additional emphasis from the fact 
that in giving it Jesus departed from his usual cus- 
tom. It is the only social subject on which he gave 
direct legislation. We have no recorded word of 
his on slavery, on the labor problem, on the edu- 
cation of the young, on the best form of civil gov- 
ernment, nor on other social topics which seem to 
us so important. Why did he pass these by and 
select marriage and divorce as the one social sub- 
ject on which he would legislate? Probably be- 
cause he regarded the family as vital to social wel- 
fare and fundamental in constructing the right 
social order. 



THE FAMILY 199 

On the matter of divorce Jesus is clear and de- 
cided. He said it could be granted for only one 
cause, adultery, which in reality breaks the mar- 
riage tie. Because no reference to this cause for 
divorce appears in Christ's words as recorded in 
Mark and Luke some have inferred that he would 
not allow it even for this reason, and that the ex- 
ception has been interpolated into Matthew's report. 
But it seems more natural and rational to believe 
that he did make the exception and that Matthew's 
report is genuine. Jesus admits that in the Mosaic 
legislation larger liberty was granted in the matter 
of divorce ; but asserts that this was done for rea- 
sons of expediency, to prevent worse results. 
Then he declares that in the original institution of 
marriage the divine plan was that one man and one 
woman should be united for life and that whoever 
departed from this order, save for the one cause, 
would be guilty of a crime. 

Modern legislators, in specifying their long lists 
of causes for legal divorce, have certainly gone 
contrary to the will of our Lord. To people living 
under such loose and liberal laws his legislation on 
the subject seems narrow and severe. Would not 
rigid conformity to it inflict great and needless 
cruelty on individuals? Suppose, for example, a 
woman finds herself mated to a drunkard, or a sav- 
age, or a man foul with diseases contracted through 
his vices, ought she not to be set free? Or suppose 
a man's wife is making him miserable, or ruining 



200 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

his chances of success in life, should he not be al- 
lowed to put her away and marry another? Un- 
doubtedly there are cases in which legal separation 
should be granted for such causes, but not for the 
purpose of making another marriage. On this the 
teaching of Jesus is explicit. Ought we not to in- 
quire carefully into his reasons for such apparent 
severity? Why did he thus legislate? 

First, because permanent marriage is better for 
society than marriage easily and frequently dis- 
solved. The individual must sacrifice something 
for the common good. Many just and wholesome 
laws bear hard upon some innocent persons. The 
best that any legislator can do is to seek the great- 
est good of the greatest number. Jesus did this in 
prohibiting divorce save for the one cause. Easy 
divorce tends to break down and destroy the fam- 
ily as an institution. To destroy marriage and the 
family would be an unspeakable calamity to the 
human race. Nothing equal to it for the promotion 
of the general welfare has been or can be invented 
to supersede it. 

Secondly, because indissoluble marriage is, on the 
whole, better for the married pair than a union that 
may be temporary. We must not allow ourselves 
to forget for a moment that the great and ultimate 
purpose of all the legislation of Jesus was the de- 
velopment of character. People who are bound to 
each other for life are more likely to make an effort 
to adjust themselves to each other and to provide 



THE FAMILY 201 

for a happy life by the cultivation of kindness, 
generosity, consideration, forbearance, and the 
spirit of service than if they are conscious that easy 
divorce affords a way of escape. Now these are 
Christian graces, and their development in our 
characters is worth any amount of effort. They 
are cheaply bought at the price of much suffering. 
In a noble sense marriage is a school for Christian 
training, and the school is more efficient when it 
is known to be in session for life. 

Thirdly, divorce is usually bad for the children, if 
there are any. They are almost certain to lose 
their respect for their parents. If they side with 
one they are alienated from the other. The home 
may be broken up and the children drift into the 
care of outsiders. The effect on their ideas of 
moral obligations must be disastrous. When the 
parents are lawless with regard to the most sacred 
social relation children cannot be expected to have 
much respect for law. Almost certainly they will 
grow up to be undesirable citizens. Their moral fiber 
is relaxed and their ideals lowered. It is not at 
all surprising that easy and frequent divorce was 
closely associated with the corruption and down- 
fall of the Roman Empire. And the matter natu- 
rally goes from bad to worse unless the tendency 
is checked by the powerful arm of the State. Chil- 
dren of divorced parents cannot be taught the sanc- 
tity of marriage and are likely to repeat the con- 
duct of their parents. 



202 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

For these reasons Jesus taught that the mar- 
riage relation should be permanent except when 
one or the other breaks the bond by the crime of 
adultery. Such is the will of the King, and as 
his kingdom advances divorces will decrease. 

Christ looks at all human relations from above. 
The ultimate end of them all is spiritual. He 
would have the family so constituted and main- 
tained as to purify and upbuild the moral char- 
acter of all its members. And yet he is no im- 
practical visionary, no airy transcendentalist. He 
recognizes the fact that the primary basis of mar- 
riage is physical. " They two shall be one flesh." 
It is a relation that does not extend into the next 
world. When the Sadducees came to him with a 
question which they thought would be a " poser " 
about a suppositious group of seven brothers who 
had, in succession, been married to the same 
woman, and asked, " Whose shall she be in the resur- 
rection ? " Jesus replied, " Ye do err, not knowing 
the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the 
resurrection they neither marry nor are given in 
marriage, but are as the angels of God " (Matt. 22 : 

23-30)- 

The primary purpose of marriage is the propa- 
gation of the race. Of course, it serves other good 
purposes — it promotes happiness through compan- 
ionship, it provides for mutual service, it may be 
a means of intellectual and spiritual culture, and 
it lays the foundation of a home in which physical 



THE FAMILY 203 

comforts may be enjoyed. But a fruitless mar- 
riage is defective. To make it so intentionally is 
abhorrent to all Christian thinking, besides being 
bad for the community and the State. A childless 
pair is not a family, but only its beginning. A 
childless home is only half a home. A Christian 
family should include as many children as the par- 
ents are able to support, care for, and educate, " for 
this is the will of the Lord." 

No one who has studied the subject can doubt 
that the general influence of Christianity on the 
family has been highly beneficial. The family life 
of pagan lands is far below that of Christian lands. 
Pagan women are generally enslaved, degraded, ig- 
norant, and stupid. They are not fitted to be, and 
are not allowed to be, the companions of their 
husbands. They are not qualified to care properly 
for their children nor to be their teachers and train- 
ers. Among some pagans the wife is not only the 
slave of her husband, but also of his family, es- 
pecially of his mother. When women are thus de- 
graded and belittled anything like true family life 
is impossible. It is notorious that pagans give lit- 
tle care to their children. In warm climates they 
run about like pigs and chickens, naked and un- 
washed until they are half-grown. In colder coun- 
tries, while they must be clad for the sake of 
warmth, there is no other difference. Among the 
masses of the people there is no effort to train their 
minds or to upbuild them in moral character, and 



204 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

they are early polluted by contact with the vices of 
their parents and neighbors. Of course, there are 
exceptions. Among civilized pagan peoples there are 
some good families. More than this can be said of 
Japan, in which the family life, as compared with 
that of other pagan nations, is so conspicuously 
good. But as a rule the absence of anything like 
true family life among pagan peoples is well known. 

The introduction and acceptance of Christianity 
changes the situation marvelously in this respect. 
Missionaries all agree in their testimony that there 
is a marked contrast between families of Christian 
converts and families of their neighbors who yet 
adhere to the old religion. In the former, husband 
and wife become loving companions and equals; 
children are cared for, trained, and educated; their 
morals are carefully guarded; order and cleanli- 
ness prevail, and a real home, though it may be a 
humble one, is constructed. 

In the same way the family life of nominally 
Christian countries is improved. Even in this coun- 
try there are many godless homes — homes without 
prayer or Christian instruction, homes of discord 
and strife, of nagging and jangling, homes in which 
the children are neglected or from which they are 
driven to learn vicious ways in the streets. Now, 
let the heads of a family like this be converted to 
Christ and there will be an immediate change for 
the better in the family life and a steady advance 
toward the Christian ideal. 



THE FAMILY 205 

One other matter of consequence ought to be men- 
tioned in this connection. There can be no real home 
without a proper house. Ideal family life is im- 
possible unless the family has a suitable place to 
live. A family attempting to live in a crowded ten- 
ement, perhaps in a single room, at any rate with- 
out facilities or accommodations for a decent life, 
is sure to suffer in health, in intelligence, and in 
morals unless it has already reached the lowest 
depths of degradation. The housing of the poor, 
especially in great cities, is a problem to the serious- 
ness of which Christian sociologists and statesmen 
are just awakening. There are two ways in which 
it is being solved. Rapid and cheap transportation 
is enabling people of moderate income to do their 
work in the city and to live in the country, where 
every family can have its own house. In the cities 
model tenements are being constructed in which a 
family may find a decent home, and capitalists are 
discovering that such tenements can be made profit- 
able without charging exorbitant rent. In the end 
Christian intelligence will be able to find a com- 
plete solution for this very important problem, and 
every family will have a tabernacle fitted for its 
needs. 

The relation of the family to the progress and 
upbuilding of the kingdom is important. It works 
hand in hand with the church and to the same 
end. Both are divine institutions and both serve 
the same purpose. There are differences of method 



206 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

and means. The function of the family is to pro- 
duce and develop physical as well as moral and 
intellectual life; the function of the church is es- 
sentially spiritual ; but both are servants of the 
kingdom. If both were in their ideal state it might 
be difficult to decide which is the more efficient serv- 
ant. The family was the first in the order of time 
and is perhaps first in the order of efficiency. 

A Christian family produces and trains workers 
for the kingdom, good members of a community, 
and desirable citizens for the State. Because it 
brings people into closer relations where kindness, 
justice, and consideration for others are required, 
it can do more than any other institution to teach 
them "the gentle art of living with one another." 
But its great advantage lies in the fact that it 
begins with human beings while they are young. 
More can be done in the creation of character, in 
the molding of disposition, and in the fixing of 
habits for good or evil in the first ten years of a 
person's life than in any subsequent ten, and by 
the end of twenty years what others can do for one 
is practically done. The family can begin to make 
the character before any other influence has marred 
it, and in normal conditions can go on undisturbed 
until the work is so well under way that its happy 
completion is assured. Thus the family can never be 
superseded by any other institution in its work for 
the kingdom and can never be surpassed by any 
other in efficiency. 



THE FAMILY 2.0J 

But in order that a family may fulfil this noble 
function it must be really Christian. Husband and 
wife must both be true disciples of Christ. They 
must love and respect each other, must work for 
each other's welfare, and must seek together for 
the highest good. They must act in harmony in 
all things, especially in the training of their chil- 
dren. Children must not only be cared for phys- 
ically, brought up so as to have strong, healthy 
bodies, but they must also be trained in godliness, 
love, purity, honesty, industry, obedience to right- 
ful authority, and in all good habits. We cannot 
here discuss details of method. Gentleness, firm- 
ness, wisdom, and patience are required for the great 
task. The example of the parents, the ideals of 
the home, and the atmosphere of the family life 
are more important than instruction. If parents 
could only be made to understand how great is their 
task and how rich the results when the task is well 
done, they would take greater pains to fit them- 
selves for it by prayer and study and self-discipline. 

Children owe duties to their parents which must 
be faithfully fulfilled if there is to be a Christian 
home. Honor, respect, obedience, affection, and 
gratitude should be expressed in conduct, speech, 
and manner. These seem to be the natural rights 
of parents, and children who refuse or carelessly 
fail to give them may be justly condemned as un- 
natural. Moreover, they are due to parents in re- 
turn for service rendered. No one can estimate 



208 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

the toil, the care, the thought, the sacrifice which 
parents give for the sake of their children. If the 
children fail to make proper returns, the parents 
suffer in their deepest feelings — 

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is 
To have a thankless child. 

But the children suffer a greater loss in the failure 
of character. They show that they are not be- 
coming fitted for the activities of life in a sphere 
wider than the home, and this is a calamity for 
which there is no compensation. Parents should 
feel that it is not selfish to exact right treatment 
from their children, but that the disposition and 
ability in their children to treat their parents well 
are part of their equipment for life and its work. 
And children owe duties to one another. If they 
are ndt trained to be just, courteous, and kind to 
one another in the home how can they be ex- 
pected to show these qualities in their relations to 
the people in the world? One fine and beautiful 
thing about a home with a fair-sized family of 
children is that it is a technical school in morals 
and manners. Much of what they are taught by 
their parents they can practise with one another, 
and it is as true in religion, morals, and manners as 
it is in mechanics or music that " practice makes 
perfect." For example, take the vital, all-essential 
matter of loving others. As we have already 
shown, this is the sum and substance of the king- 



THE FAMILY 2(X) 

dom of heaven on earth. Children can be taught 
and trained to love one another and shown how to 
practise love. This is vastly more important than 
that they should be taught reading or history or 
anything else which feeds the intellect alone. 

Inadequate as is this treatment of a great sub- 
ject, it may serve to make us feel more strongly the 
importance of the family to the kingdom of heaven 
on earth. It is evident that whatever industrial or 
economic conditions may prevent marriage or post- 
pone it to late in life, that any ideal or plan of life 
which reckons marriage as undesirable, that any 
influence which tends to multiply divorces or 
break up homes, that any custom or habit which 
draws people away from their families, like the 
club life of our cities and the lodges of cities and 
villages, are all contrary to the will of our King 
and will be abolished or changed when he has his 
way. His mission made it impossible for him to 
marry and found a family. He said that those 
who do the will of the Father are his mother and 
brothers and sisters. (Matt. 12:46-50.) That is, 
his subjects are his family. But his law makes it 
the duty of all who can, and who are fit for it, to 
marry, make homes, keep those homes inviolate 
against the evils of the world, rear children, and 
train them for the service of humanity in his king- 
dom. In this respect he only approved and 
strengthened the original law of God as given to 
man at the beginning, 
o 



XII 

THE STATE 

THE State is the people organized for political 
and civic purposes. It is a society for the 
promotion of human welfare in interests which lie 
beyond the proper sphere of the family and the 
church. Its method of operation is commonly 
spoken of as civil government. In this discussion 
no attempt will be made to separate the nation 
from any part of the nation like one of our States 
or a city. While these parts have their separate 
government, largely independent of the national 
government, they may, for our purpose, all be 
grouped together and considered under the general 
idea of the State. 

Thinkers disagree in their opinions concerning 
the origin of the State. It is not easy to trace it 
to its source historically, since, in some form, it 
must have existed in prehistoric times. Some be- 
lieve that it originated in the patriarchal system. 
A father ruled his family and their descendants 
during his lifetime. At his death the authority he 
had exercised passed to his oldest son, or to one 
whom he had selected. Meanwhile the family 
group is ever widening by natural descent until it 
210 



THE STATE 211 

reaches the magnitude of a nation. This process 
can be traced in the descent of the Jewish nation 
from Abraham, though the transmission of author- 
ity to rule is not long unbroken and clear. 

Others hold that, while the patriarchal system 
may account for the beginning of nations, it is not 
a sufficient explanation of their development. 
They claim that this can be explained only by the 
conquest of one family or tribe by another and 
the addition of the members and lands of the con- 
quered tribe. In order to make the conquest com- 
plete and permanent a system of government sub- 
stantially the same for both portions was devised 
and put in operation. It must be admitted that 
this is, in brief, the history of most of the great 
nations. But it accounts for little more than ex- 
tensive growth and leaves most of the phenomena 
of national life unexplained. 

Other thinkers believe that the State is simply 
a social contract. Men discover that they cannot 
live in isolation, and so they unite and agree to 
live together under certain laws which their wisest 
men formulate. This sounds well, but a serious 
objection to it as a theory of the State's origin is 
that no such compact has ever been formed as 
the beginning of national life. Something like it 
took place when the separate American colonies 
united, formed the United States, and adopted a 
constitution, but it should be noticed that these 
colonies had already been parts of the British 



212 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

nation, and that each colony had a government of 
its own. Their act was not the first expression of 
the idea of a State nor the beginning of govern- 
ment. This theory is equally faulty as the ideal 
of the State. If it is no more than a social con- 
tract, an agreement among its members, then it 
may be dissolved at pleasure and the State has no 
safer foundation than the shifting desires of men. 
While all of these methods have been employed 
in the formation of nations, they do not furnish, 
either separately or taken together, an adequate 
explanation of the origin of the State. The truth 
seems to be that the State had a divine origin and 
must be reckoned with the family and the church 
as a divide institution. Paul says : " Let every 
soul be in subjection to the higher powers; for 
there is no power but of God; and the powers 
that be are ordained of God " (Rom. 13: 1). This 
cannot mean that the persons then in authority 
in the Roman Empire had been chosen and ap- 
pointed by the Lord. This is no announcement of 
" the divine right of kings," which has been so 
often and so largely used as an instrument of 
tyranny. It means that civil government, the 
State, is according to God's purpose — is part of 
his plan for the human race. Perhaps in no case 
except that of the Jewish people has a nation been 
formed and established by divine decree. This law 
was written rather in the nature of man when he 
was constituted a social being. Nevertheless the 



THE STATE 213 

law is imperative, as is the law that animals shall 
breathe to exist. The State is a necessity. It 
exists in some form among all peoples. 

There can be no satisfactory ideal of the State 
without recognition of its divine origin. On no 
other basis can it exercise the authority which it 
must have in order perfectly to fulfil its functions. 
It has the power of life and death over its citi- 
zens ; by its " right of eminent domain " it con- 
trols their property; it makes laws for the regula- 
tion of their conduct. No institution not of divine 
origin could exercise such authority as this over the 
people of a nation. 

The functions of the State are many and im- 
portant. It will be impossible here to enumerate 
and describe them all, but brief consideration must 
be given to this part of the subject. One func- 
tion of the State is the protection of its people — 
of their persons, their property, their reputations, 
and their liberties. This was, probably, its earliest 
function, the thing men first thought of when they 
associated themselves as a nation. The first pur- 
pose was to defend the nation as a whole from 
foreign aggressors. Then came the protection of 
the people from one another by the prevention of 
crimes such as murder, assault, robbery, theft, 
fraud, arson, trespass, slander, and any other in- 
fringement of rights. A later development of this 
idea was the protection of individual citizens from 
injury or wrong in a foreign land. 



214 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Another function of the State is to secure and 
maintain justice between man and man. As pop- 
ulation becomes dense and civilization grows com- 
plex, many disputes arise between citizens which 
must be settled by the State. No other power can 
create and set in motion the machinery necessary 
to discover the facts in every case and decide the 
contest on principles of equity. The State must 
defend the weak against the aggressions of the 
strong. It should guarantee to every human being 
a chance to reach the highest development and live 
the noblest life of which he is capable. 

Another function of the State is to promote the 
material prosperity and physical comfort of the 
people. It builds roads, bridges, and canals; it 
improves natural waterways and harbors; it aids 
in the construction of railroads; it irrigates arid 
lands; it conserves natural resources; it gives in- 
struction to the people as to the best methods of 
carrying on productive industries and aids them in 
combating enemies of fruits and grains and do- 
mestic animals. It puts forth effort to preserve 
the general health by prohibiting adulterated food, 
by providing pure water, by drainage, and by care- 
fully restricting the spread of contagious or infec- 
tious diseases. It compels the erection of safe 
buildings for dwellings and the use of safety ap- 
pliances in dangerous occupations. It prohibits 
nuisances that will endanger the health and com- 
fort of people they affect. 






THE STATE 21 5 

Another function of the State is to provide for 
the education of the young. It erects, equips, and 
cares for school buildings; it trains and employs 
teachers; it prescribes courses of study, and con- 
ducts examinations. Some States provide for ed- 
ucation far beyond the range of the ordinary public 
schools and grant university degrees. The State 
educates on the ground that ignorance is a menace 
to the peace and welfare of the nation and that 
only intelligent people are fit for citizenship. This 
argument has special force in a democracy or a 
republic. 

Another function of the State is to care for the 
destitute, the helpless, the deficient, and the de- 
generate. For this purpose hospitals, asylums, and 
reformatories are erected and maintained. The 
acceptance of this function among Western nations 
is proof that the State is becoming Christian. 

It is the business of the State to protect the 
morals of its people and to promote good morals by 
all means in its power. The State should make it 
easy for its citizens to be good and hard for them 
to be bad. 

Opinions differ widely concerning these func- 
tions. There have been statesmen and philosophers 
who have argued that the State should exercise 
only the police function. But the conviction grows 
and is more and more widely accepted that all the 
functions mentioned and many more are legitimate 
to the State. The tendency of modern times is 



2l6 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

certainly to widen them. In this country there 
has been excessive and much unwise legislation, 
but it all marks the tendency to increase the func- 
tions of the State and give it more and more con- 
trol over the affairs of the people. But those men- 
tioned are sufficient to show the immeasurable im- 
portance of the State and how vitally it is related 
to the welfare and progress of humanity. Of the 
three divine institutions, the Family, the Church, 
and the State, it would be difficult for a truly 
judicial mind to say which is the most important. 
Will the State continue? Suppose the kingdom 
of Christ to have come, or to be well under way, 
would there be a State? Would any form of civil 
government be necessary? Some great thinkers 
have maintained that the State is only temporary, 
that it grew out of evil and is itself a necessary 
evil, invented and tolerated to prevent worse evils, 
and that it will pass away as Christianity advances 
and the world grows better. Leo Tolstoy is the 
most widely known of the apostles of this creed. 
It is probable that the police functions of the State, 
those functions which operate for the prevention 
of crime, injustice, cruelty, and all forms of injury 
to others, will gradually become less necessary and 
conspicuous; but there is little ground for hope 
that they will ever pass wholly away while the 
world stands. There will always be wicked people 
whose restraint and reformation will require the 
strong arm of the State. But even if this should 



THE STATE 217 

become wholly unnecessary the State will still be 
needed and will doubtless continue. 

One reason for believing this is the divine origin 
of the State. Of course, it might be divine and 
still be temporary, but its origin in the purpose of 
God makes its continuance probable. There is no 
intimation in the word of God nor in the nature of 
man that it will ever pass away. 

The functions of the State are wider than those 
which the family or the church can undertake. 
If we suppose its work of protection to be no 
longer necessary there still remains more than 
enough to require and insure its continued exist- 
ence. If every man, woman, and child in the 
world were a loyal and faithful Christian the State 
would still be needed. Certain great objects which 
are essential to the progress of humanity can be 
attained only by the combination and cooperation 
which the State makes possible. What those ob- 
jects are will be made clear as we proceed. 

Practically all the duties of a good citizen are 
Christian duties. There are at present some things 
into which a State might force its citizens, like mil- 
itary service or Sunday work, which are unchris- 
tian. But we are now supposing that the State 
is so far Christianized as not to require such serv- 
ices. Then the ordinary duties of a citizen are 
such acts as a Christian would have to perform in 
order to live rightly with his fellow-men. Two 
examples will make our meaning clear. One of 



2l8 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

the first duties of a citizen is the cheerful sur- 
render of some of his abstract rights for the com- 
mon good. That is a Christian act. It is the duty 
of a citizen to combine with other citizens in all 
possible ways to promote the general welfare. 
Willingness to do that is the very essence of Chris- 
tianity on its manward side. It may be seriously 
questioned whether one who refuses to do it is a 
Christian at all. Why, then, should any one think 
that the progress of Christianity will do away with 
the State? 

The State is probably the medium through which 
Christians may best express themselves in their 
service of humanity. We say " probably " because 
some will be inclined to give the church preemi- 
nence in the opportunity it offers for service. It 
is not necessary to argue the question; certainly 
we shall not decry the church as a medium for 
doing good. The point that needs emphasizing is 
that Christians have not yet apprehended the mag- 
nificent opportunity for service they have in the 
State. They have not yet heard, much less 
heeded, the call of God to carry their Christian 
ideals and Christian power into their life as citi- 
zens. They have been too ready to acquiesce in 
the dictum of worldlings that religion has no place 
in politics. That is a worse than pagan sentiment, 
for religion has always been a powerful formative 
force in the making and government of States, and 
Christians will fall far short of their duty and 



THE STATE 2ig 

their privilege if they do not make their religion the 
controlling force in the States of which they are 
citizens. 

The State may become the best representative of 
the kingdom of heaven on earth. It is more nearly 
conterminous with it than any other society. The 
family is important because it is related to the be- 
ginnings of life and the training of the young. 
The church is important because it has to do with 
the spiritual life and the formation of character. 
But the State is broader than either and touches 
human life at more points. The three work to- 
gether to the same end, but the manifestation of the 
kingdom is more apparent in the State. 

The growth of the kingdom is best shown by the 
kind of States people are organizing and sustain- 
ing. For we must remember that the kingdom of 
heaven affects the whole man in all his relations, 
and its manifestation is mainly in the relations of 
man to man. 

For all these reasons we believe that the State 
will continue " to the end of the age." It will 
rest less on force and more and more on the spirit 
of brotherhood and voluntary cooperation. But 
its functions will increase and it will foster more 
human interests. The coming of the kingdom will 
increase its importance as an instrument of human 
progress. 

How will the kingdom come in the State? By 
what means will the Christianization of the State 



220 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

be accomplished? It cannot be done by any for- 
mal declaration that the State is Christian. Such 
an announcement is always dangerous and is not 
likely to have any good effect on the life of the 
people. When Constantine decreed that Chris- 
tianity should be the religion of the Roman Empire 
he did not make Rome more Christian, but he 
helped to paganize Christianity. A similar decla- 
ration by any nation at the present time would 
have a tendency to make the people feel that true 
religion is a matter of forms and creeds instead 
of being, as it is, " the life of God in the soul of 
man." 

The State cannot be Christianized by an attempt 
to make it ecclesiastical. Whenever the church has 
attempted to rule over the State the result has 
been injury to both. The church becomes a po- 
litical machine with leaders greedy for power, and 
is thus diverted from its legitimate work of ma- 
king holy men and women. The priest-ridden States 
have all fallen behind those which have been free 
from such dominance. 

The State cannot be made Christian by the adop- 
tion of any credal test of citizenship. This ex- 
periment was tried by the Puritans and failed. 
Arrogance, tyranny, persecution, hypocrisy are its 
certain fruits. A State following this plan would 
in the long run disfranchise or expatriate most of 
its honest and conscientious men. 

The true and only hopeful method is for Chris- 



THE STATE 221 

tian men and women to carry their religion into 
political and civic affairs. History shows plainly 
that religion is necessary in the organization and 
maintenance of the State. While a pure theocracy 
is not yet possible, God must be recognized by a 
people who hope to make themselves a permanent 
and progressive nation. Pure Christianity is the 
only religion whose results are wholly beneficial. 
How to get it into the State so that its vitalizing 
and purifying force will permeate all departments 
of national life is the question. It works from 
within outward. It is shy of forms and mechan- 
ical devices. But while Christianity begins in the 
heart, it must express itself in the worship of God 
and in service to mankind. As already hinted, the 
State is the best medium for the latter form of 
expression. The State will become Christian 
through efforts of the family and the church to 
make Christian citizens — men and women who will 
recognize the fact that the State is the noblest pos- 
sible sphere for Christian activity. 

What would a State be under the reign of Christ ? 
The subject stirs the imagination beyond almost 
anything else of which one could think. We are 
forced to admit that a really Christian State is far 
in the future, for such a State implies that all its 
subjects are Christians and all are doing perfectly 
the will of the King. Perhaps the world will never 
see such a State; certainly it will take the most 
favored nation centuries to develop and perfect it 



222 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

unless the progress of the future outruns that of 
the past. But some States are becoming Chris- 
tian, and we may hope that the time is not far 
distant when in a few of them a good working ma- 
jority of the citizens will be Christians of the sort 
who believe that they must express their religion 
in the life of the State. Suppose that time to 
have come, what sort of a State would it be? We 
may not be able to describe it in detail, but we can 
at least sketch an outline and indicate a few of 
its leading characteristics. 

As already intimated, it would be democratic in 
form. The value which Christ placed upon man 
as man, his insistence upon equality of rights and 
privileges for all in his kingdom, and his call to 
every one to take his place among the builders as 
a free worker would preclude any other form of 
government for a Christian State. He made his 
church democratic by direct command; the State 
must be the same to preserve the Christian ideal. 
Only thus can the best interests of man be served. 
The people must rule or they will miss their op- 
portunity for development. In the Christian State 
this self-government will be real and the right to 
it carefully defended. Whoever attempts to take 
it away by claim of hereditary authority, by " boss- 
ism," by manipulating caucuses and conventions, by 
interference with elections, or by any other political 
trick will be regarded and punished as a criminal. 
The tendency of modern government is more and 



THE STATE 223 

more toward pure democracy. The demand for 
direct primaries and for the initiative and referen- 
dum and for the recall are proofs of the strength 
of this movement. At the same time it must be 
admitted that laws cannot be made in popular as- 
semblies. In the main they must be enacted by 
representative men. 

The lawmakers of such a State will be Christian 
men who faithfully seek to enact laws expressing 
the will of Christ. In the opinion of politicians 
such a hope as this is merely an iridescent dream; 
but all the good things the world has gained have 
first been some prophet's dream. So long as the 
people of a State are part Christian and part non- 
Christian or adherents of other religions a certain 
amount of compromise in legislation may be neces- 
sary. Minorities have their rights. No one in the 
State has a right to do that which will injure an- 
other, and every person can be justly restrained 
from such actions; but positive laws, those requir- 
ing duties, in a State having a mixed population 
must stop short of the standard they could reach 
if all the people were Christians. But the legisla- 
ture of a Christian State should make laws cor- 
responding as nearly as possible to the teaching of 
Jesus. 

Good laws serve a triple purpose — they restrain 
evil ; they educate the conscience of the people ; and 
they encourage good behavior. They restrain evil 
by providing and administering suitable penalties to 



224 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

those who transgress. They educate the conscience 
by teaching those who are morally in the lower 
strata of the population the ideas of right and 
wrong which prevail in the upper strata. Many 
are open to instruction from the State who will 
not receive it from any other source. They do 
not perceive that a wrong thing is wrong until the 
people make it unlawful. Good laws encourage 
good behavior by the requirement of duties and 
the cultivation of public sentiment. All Christian 
people go beyond the laws of the State in service to 
their fellow-men, but there are always some who 
are lagging behind and who need the spur of legal 
requirement. Gradually, however, they come to 
look upon such enforced duties as a matter of 
course and perform them without thinking that they 
are required by law. That is the beginning of the 
higher morality which is liberty. 

Legislation may serve to develop industries, to 
promote trade, to increase the wealth of the State, 
and to preserve the health of the people. Modern 
legislators give most of their time and attention to 
such matters. Nothing indicates so surely the 
commercial spirit, the practical materialism, of our 
age as the bulk of this kind of legislation. But 
such subjects should not exclusively occupy the 
attention of lawmakers. A Christian State will 
recognize the fact that the morals of the people 
are far more important, and that legislation with 
regard to their moral conduct is legitimate. It is 



THE STATE 225 

objected that you cannot make people moral by 
law. On this point we need to be clear. The 
State may not attempt to make people religious by 
law. Every effort of that sort has resulted only 
in evil. The most that the State can do in this 
matter is to protect the people in the free exercise 
of their religion. But moral conduct can be af- 
fected by law, as we have already shown. While 
no amount of legislation can make bad people love 
righteousness, they can be restrained from certain 
forms of injury to themselves and from nearly all 
forms of injury to others. On this principle the 
manufacture and sale of intoxicants as beverages, 
gambling, prostitution, seduction by either sex, pro- 
fane swearing in public, unwholesome child labor, 
indecently crowded tenements, unnecessary Sunday 
work, Sunday sports, and other things that hurt and 
destroy will be as surely prohibited as murder or 
theft. The legislature of a Christian State will 
enact laws to prevent the formation of any social 
order or industrial system which will deprive any 
citizen of his right and opportunity to live a full, 
noble, satisfying life. 

In a Christian State men will be elected or ap- 
pointed to execute the laws who cannot be bribed 
with money, or political favor, or any consideration 
to continue or wink at lawbreaking. In such a 
State men who as president or governor or mayor 
or judge or police officer should violate their oath 
faithfully to execute the laws, or lawyers who 



226 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

should use their ingenuity to defeat the purpose of 
the laws would be considered as the most danger- 
ous kind of criminals, and punished according to the 
magnitude of their crime. 

How to prevent the manufacture of criminals and 
how to deal with the criminals already made are 
among the great problems of the State. They have 
never yet been solved to the satisfaction of thought- 
ful philanthropists. The theory which has been gen- 
erally accepted since the world began is that the way 
to prevent crime is to punish every criminal with 
appalling severity. But the history of the world 
shows that crime grows and criminals multiply 
under such treatment. It is only during recent 
years that serious thought has been given to the 
task of preventing young people from entering upon 
a career of crime and of reforming those who have 
begun it. This is certainly the Christian way, and 
the Christian State will steadily and patiently fol- 
low it. Of course, proper home life is the main 
thing. Children that are brought up in good homes 
do not become criminals. Perhaps the State could 
improve home life by adopting Plato's idea that 
when children go wrong their parents should be 
punished. Laws should be passed and institutions 
established to prevent the manufacture of crim- 
inals. Children's courts are good temporary ex- 
pedients. Far better are safe playgrounds for chil- 
dren and wholesome work as soon as they are old 
enough. 



THE STATE 227 

All punishment of criminals should be adminis- 
tered with two purposes, — one the protection of the 
people, the other the saving of the offender. The 
custom of the past has been so to punish beginners 
in transgression as to confirm them in a criminal 
career. The Christian State will seek to save the 
worst. Every criminal is a human being and there 
is always a possibility that he may become a good 
citizen and a member of the kingdom of heaven. 
Of course, there must be punishment, but there may 
also be wholesome surroundings, Christian instruc- 
tion, and absorbing work, which is itself a source 
of moral healing. 

A Christian State will prevent pauperism and 
vagabondage. It will provide work and wages for 
those who are willing to labor and force work on 
those who are unwilling. This is a legitimate func- 
tion of the State and is one of the imperative needs 
of humanity. 

The Christian State will provide and maintain 
exact justice between man and man, not simply in 
personal disputes, but also in larger matters like 
taxation and other State burdens. No laws nor or- 
dinances nor acts of legislation will be so framed as 
to give favors or special privileges to any class. 
Courts of law will be courts of justice. If any 
discrimination is ever made it will be in favor of 
the weak, and the Christian law, " We that are 
strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak " 
(Rom. 15:1), will become the law of the State. 



228 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

In a Christian State no one will be disfranchised 
on account of race or color, but only for proven 
unfitness, moral and intellectual. The Christian 
State will guarantee to every one his just share in 
the natural resources of the country. Strong, 
keen, grasping, predatory men, either singly or in 
combination, will not be able to rob the people of 
their property rights. If there is no other way of 
securing these rights, it will be done by appro- 
priating natural resources as people's property. So 
far as possible, the Christian State will give every 
citizen a fair chance in life. On all great ques- 
tions pertaining to the welfare of the people, it 
will endeavor to crystallize Christian sentiment into 
civil law and to enforce it. 

What sort of education will a Christian State 
provide for its children and young people? It will 
be an education that will fit them for the duties 
of life. It will include physical culture, mental 
training, and the attainment of practical knowledge. 
It should also include instruction and training in 
morals. As we have already seen, State schools 
cannot teach religion, at least not until all are 
agreed as to the form of religion which shall be 
taught. But they can teach good morals. It is 
doubtful if there is any one even now in a civilized 
State who would object to having its schools teach 
and train their pupils in such subjects as honesty, 
truthfulness, honor, fairness, purity, industry, 
respect for the rights of others, obedience to 



THE STATE 229 

rightful authority, charity in judgment, kindness 
in speech, the duty of helping others, and patriot- 
ism. These subjects are generally neglected, except 
as they may get meager attention on account of 
their bearing on the routine of school work. And 
yet they are more important to the future citizens 
than all the book-learning they will ever get. Ethical 
principles are more important than mathematical 
facts. In the schools of the Christian State they 
will receive the attention they deserve. 

Would a Christian State go to war?* That is a 
great question, and hard to answer. That men 
should devote their lives, their energies, their time, 
and their wealth to the work of killing other men, 
of devastating their lands, of ruining their homes, 
of reducing their families to starvation, of sowing 
broadcast disease and misery and desolation is 
certainly not according to the will of Christ. The 
spirit of war is not the spirit of the kingdom of 
heaven, but of the inferno. And yet the world 
has the habit of war, acquired and strengthened 
by centuries of fighting. It has glorified war, 
arrayed it in gaudy apparel, and deified the suc- 
cessful warrior as though the business of butcher- 
ing men, destroying property, and filling a land 
with woe were the finest business it had to offer. 
This habit of war and this disposition to make it 
the noblest of occupations are hard to change. On 
this brutal savagery of man Christianity has so far 
made very little impression. The so-called Chris- 



23O IF CHRIST WERE KING 

tian nations are still giving their energies largely 
to this awful business. 

And if a State should become so far Christian 
that its people really desired to bring war to an 
end, it would encounter a serious practical diffi- 
culty. Its next neighbor might still be so barbarous 
and savage as to be capable of waging a war of 
conquest on a peaceable nation. The Christian 
State would thus be at the mercy of its savage 
neighbor which might overwhelm it, take posses- 
sion of its country, reduce its people to slavery, 
and destroy its civilization. But this difficulty is 
more imaginary than real. It is a phantom raised 
by centuries of fear and fighting. It is probable 
that any nation announcing at the present time its 
settled purpose never to engage in war would be 
left unmolested by all other nations. Shame, if 
nothing higher, would restrain them from attack- 
ing it. 

A State really Christian would spend very little 
of its energies and resources in preparation for 
war. It would avoid war by every honorable 
means and engage in it only as a last resort to 
escape worse things. It would fight only in self- 
defense and for the preservation of its existence. 
As the kingdom of heaven extends and the power 
of Christ is increased over the nations, war will 
cease altogether. There will be no necessity nor 
occasion for it, since it is impossible that one Chris- 
tian State should fight another. Men will loathe 



THE STATE 23 1 

and abhor it for the horrible thing it is, and peace 
will cover the earth because it is the will of the 
King. 

In the past the State existed for three things — 
to punish crime in its own borders, to wage war 
on its enemies, and to glorify its rulers. But under 
the steadily growing influence of Christianity a 
great change has come over the thoughts and 
habits of men with reference to the State, and 
greater changes are yet to come. We are begin- 
ning to see that the true function of the State 
is to provide for and promote the highest welfare 
of the people and that the Christian State will 
fulfil this function. It will prevent or restrain 
crime, establish and maintain justice between man 
and man, give all its citizens a chance for an honor- 
able life, rescue them from idleness and poverty, 
promote the development of the natural resources 
of the land, increase wealth, compel public utilities 
to be the servants of the people, care for the health 
of its citizens, provide them with education and 
means of moral improvement, and make its nation 
a true brother to all other nations of the earth. 



XIII 

CIVILIZATION 

SOME elements of civilization have already 
been considered sufficiently for our purpose. 
The family and the State under the reign of Christ 
embody the best features of it. No country can 
be called civilized which has not good homes and 
family life in which the sexes hold their divinely 
appointed relation, and in which children are 
trained to be good and efficient men and women. 
Equally essential is good government, with just 
and equitable laws fairly and thoroughly adminis- 
tered in the interests of the people. The machinery 
of a civilized State includes many institutions which 
need not be again enumerated. A certain measure 
of material prosperity, inventions, the industrial 
arts, the development of natural resources, and 
organization for business seem to be important ele- 
ments of civilization. 

It is a noteworthy fact that in its simpler forms 
civilization always follows the preaching of the 
gospel to barbarous tribes. Those who had been 
naked savages learn to make and wear clothes; 
huts are abandoned for decent dwellings; if they 
have been filthy they adopt habits of cleanliness; 
232 



CIVILIZATION 233 

the idle learn to value the rewards of labor and 
become industrious; their rude dialect becomes a 
written language ; family life is improved, or newly 
created if it had not before existed; institutions 
like schools, legislatures, and courts are duly estab- 
lished; and the growth toward complete civiliza- 
tion is as rapid as the conditions will allow. Such 
facts as these make it evident that Christianity is 
a civilizing power and that the coming of the king- 
dom means a more perfect civilization. 

What is the relation of the kingdom to some 
of the finer elements of civilization like learning, 
literature, art, and manners? The subject is of 
great interest because it has an important bearing 
upon everyday life. Did Jesus have any interest 
in these matters? Did he mean that his disciples 
should ignore them or oppose their cultivation or 
aid it according to taste and ability? 

On these subjects Jesus was entirely silent. If 
he felt or showed any interest in learning or litera- 
ture or art, we have no record of it. He probably 
knew all about the nature and possible uses of 
gravitation, steam, and electricity; the principles 
of sanitation and hygiene; and the means of pro- 
duction, travel, transportation, and communication 
which men would discover in the coming ages. 
Why did he not give the world the benefit of his 
knowledge? If science is the great thing, why 
did he not teach science? Why did he not move 
upon the vast deep of ignorance and superstition 



234 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

to make men scientific and wise, and thus save 
them from centuries of stumbling and suffering? 
Perhaps he knew that the world was not ready 
to receive such instruction and would not know 
what to do with it. Perhaps he did not regard 
such matters of very great importance, and foresaw 
that if he taught them they would cause men to 
ignore or forget the greater teaching. The prac- 
tical question is, did he mean that his disciples are 
to ignore science, fear and shun learning? This 
is not an idle question, for there have been Chris- 
tian teachers who have said that the less we have 
to do with secular learning the better, and have 
felt that they had warrant for their position in 
the example of our Lord. 

Here we recur to the fact that Jesus was not 
indifferent to all the matters on which he was 
silent. He was preoccupied with the most im- 
portant things. Two facts in his life and work 
give us a hint on his attitude toward learning. On 
several occasions he gave honor to Moses, and 
" Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the 
Egyptians" (Acts 7:22). Paul was probably the 
best-educated Jew of his day, and Jesus called 
him to be his chief apostle. The fact, so plainly 
evident, that the kingdom has to do with the whole 
man will help guide us to a just and safe conclu- 
sion in this matter. 

All truth is God's truth, and if learning helps 
to discover and organize truth the kingdom cannot 



CIVILIZATION 235 

be unfriendly to it. Everywhere the school follows 
swiftly on the heels of the gospel. The Christian 
Fathers, the leading men of the early centuries of 
Christianity, were in favor of education and learn- 
ing. Even the Puritans, with all their hatred of 
worldliness, were ardent and steadfast in their 
desire for good schools and general education. One 
difference between Jesus and other leaders is that 
he would give learning to every man according to 
his capacity. His reign will put no check on man's 
desire to know all there is to know. But educa- 
tion should be Christian. By that we mean that 
science, history, philosophy, literature, and the rest 
should be so taught as not to impair faith in Christ, 
and that the ideal of using learning for Christian 
service should be kept constantly before the pupils. 
While we are waiting for the State schools to be 
Christianized, it is clearly the duty of the churches 
to combine for the support of schools, colleges, and 
universities in which Christian education can be 
obtained. 

Is there any conflict between the kingdom and 
the higher or highest learning? Certainly not, if 
the learning has for its end the discovery and 
impartation of truth. We used to hear a good 
deal about " the conflict between science and 
religion. " There never was and never can be any 
conflict between true science and true religion. 
Scientific discovery and progress may endanger 
some dogmas of the church, but they can never 



2$6 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

imperil the interests of 'the kingdom. Similarly, 
believers in the divine inspiration of the books of 
our Bible have looked with hostile eye upon those 
who would apply to its study the " higher criti- 
cism " or the " historic method." But we can fear 
nothing which serves to bring out the truth. All 
we can demand is that scholars shall be sure of 
the facts before they draw conclusions. They 
must not draw inferences from propositions not 
yet proved. They should not let hostility to the 
religion of the Bible make them unscientific in its 
study. Jesus said : " To this end was I born and 
for this cause came I into the world, that I should 
bear witness unto the truth" (John 18:37), and 
all his subjects must not only welcome the truth, 
but strive in every way to know it. 

But learning has other dangers. It tends to 
make men self-sufficient and proud. It takes away 
the childlike spirit, without which no one can enter 
the kingdom. Coleridge said that few learned 
men are men of prayer. It makes men feel that 
they can find out everything by intellectual methods. 
Thus they ignore, even mock at, the method of the 
Spirit. Out of this grows skepticism or agnosticism. 
But learning that is thorough and scientific will 
know its limitations and acknowledge that there 
are ranges of life outside its sphere. There is 
danger that the life will be absorbed in the pursuit 
of learning and the interest of the Spirit forgotten. 
Jesus always put the latter first, and we must 



CIVILIZATION 237 

recognize and follow his estimates in building the 
kingdom. There is always danger of an aristocracy 
of learning, danger that people who devote them- 
selves to it will think they are superior to other 
classes of workers. 

Subjects of the King must guard themselves 
against these dangers. They must make learn- 
ing, both in its end and in the methods by which 
it is pursued, a servant of the kingdom. Knowl- 
edge of one kind helps to gain knowledge of other 
kinds. Secular knowledge that is gained and 
held in a reverent spirit saves one from going 
astray in the pursuit of religious knowledge. 
Ignorance is the mother of superstition, fetishism, 
sacramentarianism, and of fads and follies and 
fanaticism in religion ; knowledge may be the guide 
to pure faith though not the source of it. More- 
over, our Lord can use a trained and disciplined 
mind more efficiently than he can use one un- 
accustomed to close study and hard thinking. 
There is scarcely an interest of the kingdom that 
may not be advanced by true learning possessed 
by its subjects. 

What is the relation of the kingdom to litera- 
ture? On this subject too, our Lord was silent. 
He had not read the Greek and Roman classics, 
the poems of Persia and India. Did he know of 
their existence? Nothing in his discourses indi- 
cates it. Apparently he knew the Hebrew biblia, 
and of literature nothing beyond. Would he have 



238 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

his disciples equally indifferent to all pagan or 
secular literature? There is reason for the ques- 
tion in the fact that many Christians have had a 
strong and abiding conviction that the less we 
know about the world's literature the better for 
our souls and for the cause of our King. Every 
one knows about the intense prejudice of the 
Puritans against fiction and the drama, and how 
they regarded the reading of such works as a sin. 
A religious leader in this country, a man who for 
forty years was president of a theological semi- 
nary, used to say that Shakespeare was inspired 
by the devil. In our day many have gone to the 
opposite extreme and regard all good literary works 
as alike inspired by the Lord. 

All that we have said on our Lord's attitude 
toward learning is in place here. The great world 
of secular literature is open to the disciple of Christ 
for culture, so. far as he can use it without injury 
to his spiritual and moral life. He must dis- 
criminate in his reading and study. The great 
mass of neurotic, erotic, idiotic fiction coming from 
the press he may well ignore. All writings whose 
purpose is to undermine Christian faith he should 
help to make " poor sellers/' unless he feels called 
to the task of controverting their arguments. But 
books that convey valuable information, that stimu- 
late thought, that raise one's ideals, that stir noble 
emotion, and that give pure pleasure, he should 
read. 



CIVILIZATION 239 

Ought a subject of the kingdom to give his time 
and strength to the production of secular litera- 
ture? Why not, as well as to the raising of fruits 
and grains ? Only let it be that which instructs or 
stimulates the mind and feeds the heart. Let him 
look at life and nature from a Christian point of 
view and write with a Christian purpose. Fiction, 
poetry, essays, history may serve to extend the 
kingdom of heaven on earth as well as sermons 
and theological treatises. There can be no doubt 
that " Uncle Tom's Cabin " helped to form the 
sentiment which abolished slavery in this country. 
Further aid to the same cause was given by poems 
like those of Whittier and Lowell. The novels of 
Charles Dickens stimulated the reform of social 
abuses in England. " Ramona " helped to open 
the eyes of the American people to the shameful 
abuses which had been heaped upon the Indians 
in this country. The sociological novels of our 
time are among the forces which will bring about 
great economic, industrial, and political changes in 
the civilized world. The modern drama had its 
origin in a religious purpose, and at first repre- 
sented religious facts. May it be redeemed so that 
it will be an effective agent in promoting the moral 
and religious progress of the world. But even 
if polite literature served no other purpose than to 
give culture and information it would still have 
its place in the kingdom. " All things are yours," 
the apostle Paul declared. 



24O IF CHRIST WERE' KING 

Under the reign of Christ, what kind of news- 
papers would we have? The present newspaper 
presents mainly the bad side of life. It ought to 
present the good. When it approaches the legiti- 
mate, it magnifies the sensational and spectacular 
out of all due proportion. It caters to people of 
low moral tone, weak minds, limited knowledge, 
and bad taste because they are in the majority. 
As the kingdom advances the intelligent, refined, 
moral, and religious people will be in the majority, 
and after a while this majority will become so large 
that only good papers will be profitable. So the 
sensational, snappy, cheap magazine will give place 
to. those that have literary and educational value. 
Trashy novels will find no market, and only those 
which afford pure recreation or present high ideals 
of life or furnish information will be produced. 
Then religious periodicals will not be crippled by 
scanty support, but will become the most popular 
of journals. 

The printing-press has done much for the king- 
dom. It has also been an efficient servant of the 
enemy. Some believe that it has done more harm 
than good, but this is a pessimistic judgment; the 
balance is undoubtedly in its favor. But in the 
years to come the King will wrest from Satan 
what control of it he has and use this mighty engine 
wholly in the interests of his kingdom. Then will 
literature in all its forms be an immeasurable bless- 
ing to the world. 



CIVILIZATION 241 

What is the relation of the kingdom to art? 
Here also we have only silence from the King. 
For the temple at Jerusalem in which the average 
Jew gloried he cared so little as to give rise to the 
suspicion that he intended to destroy it. If he 
knew that Athens was full of beautiful statues 
and paintings and that Rome was magnificent with 
temples, palaces, theaters, arches, and columns, he 
never, so far as the record shows, mentioned the 
subject. Was he indifferent to art? Did he fear 
that the love of beauty and the pursuit of art would 
corrupt his followers and serve only purposes of 
evil? When Savonarola's eloquence caused the 
Florentines to bring their " vanities " to the public 
square to be burned, was he moved by the spirit 
of his Master? Were the Puritans, when they 
broke the images and demolished the pictures in 
the cathedrals of England and eschewed beauty 
in dress and home and church buildings, nearer 
to the Christian ideal than others? The answer 
we may find to these questions affects a part of 
life which has much to do with human happiness 
and progress. 

In attempting to explain the silence of Jesus on 
art, we are not shut up to the assumption that he 
was indifferent or that he meant it to have no place 
in the life of his people. He was a prophet on 
religion and life, and he adhered closely to his 
central theme. He could not turn aside to discuss 
every interest and legislate concerning every pos- 
Q 



2/\2 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

sible act. His own people, those to whom his min- 
istry was specially and chiefly addressed, knew 
almost nothing of the fine arts. Literature and 
music were their only attempts in this direction, 
and these were rarely cultivated for pleasure alone, 
being devoted mainly to religious purposes. Sculp- 
ture and painting were forbidden, because among 
the surrounding nations these arts were so generally 
prostituted to pagan purposes. They did nothing 
worthy of consideration in the way of architecture. 
Even the wood-carvings and brass-castings on Sol- 
omon's temple were made by foreigners. Among 
such a people there was no occasion for Jesus to 
speak of art. 

No one can believe that he was indifferent to 
beauty. The declaration that a lily of the field 
was more finely arrayed than Solomon in all his 
glory could have been made only by a beauty-loving 
soul. He was the Son of that God who flooded 
the world with beauty. He loved flowers, he loved 
the mountains, the valleys, the stately trees, the 
fields of waving grain, the sea, the streams, the 
splendid sunset, and the starry heavens. He looked 
on the beauties of them all with an appreciative 
heart. He saw in those beauties his Father's work. 
Now, if God covered his handiwork with beauty 
and created in us an esthetic sense to enjoy it, why 
may not we create and enjoy works of art? The 
soul that has no esthetic sensibility and no taste 
in discerning objects of beauty is hardly a normal 



CIVILIZATION 243 

soul, much less one that is well developed and 
highly cultivated. 

In discussing the relation of the kingdom to art, 
the chief question for consideration is how to make 
art subservient to the higher interests of the king- 
dom. What do people mean when they speak of 
" art for art's sake " ? Really, it is an inane and 
meaningless phrase. Art has no end nor purpose 
nor interest in itself. Art exists for the sake of 
man. Its works are intended to produce some 
effects upon the minds and hearts of those who 
behold them. What sort of effects ought they to 
be? If works of art give pleasure they have a 
reason for being, provided it is pure pleasure. But 
pleasure sought as an end has an element of danger. 
It tends to make people selfish, hard, and indifferent 
to moral restraints. It is a curious fact that, with 
some noble exceptions, artists of all kinds are 
deficient in moral character. The pursuit of beauty 
does not seem to make good men and women. This 
does not condemn art, but it surely is a warning 
signal, calling us to subordinate it to the making 
of character. And if works of art awaken lust, 
the love of combat, blood-thirstiness, or any malign 
passion, our Lord would banish them from the 
sight of men, condemn them to destruction. 

We can pay too high a price for works of art. 
The massive and imposing structures of Egypt and 
Assyria and the daintily beautiful palaces and 
tombs of India which the world so much admires 



244 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

were built by the sweat and blood of men forced 
to labor without remuneration till they died of 
exhaustion, simply to gratify the whim or the 
ambition or the sentiment of a heartless ruler. It 
is related that Parrhasius of Greece crucified an 
old Olynthian slave in order that, by watching his 
dying agonies, he might be better able to paint his 
" Prometheus Bound." Modern artists are more 
humane, but some of them are equally reckless of 
human welfare. They would not torture an old 
slave for the sake of art, but they would befoul 
the souls of all those who look upon their works. 
Modern palaces have not been built, modern art 
galleries have not been filled by forced labor, but 
often they have been purchased by the toil and 
suffering of the poor. We pay too high a price 
for works of art when we purchase them with the 
souls of men or the rights of men. 

Our Lord would have us regard art as a luxury. 
Get the needful things first — spiritual life, char- 
acter, brotherhood, the Christian social order, the 
Christian State, then the amenities and refinements 
of life. Works of art, both in their production 
and in their use, must always be kept subordinate 
to the higher interests of man. We do not mean 
that every work of art must have a moral ; " beauty 
is its own excuse for being " ; but at least it should 
not be immoral in its influence. 

How far will the King allow us to use art in 
worship? Without being flippant, we might reply 



CIVILIZATION 245 

just so far as we can use it for worship. If we 
use it to gratify our pride or for the production 
of esthetic pleasure, and then mislead ourselves 
into calling that pleasure worship, he will rule it 
out. A costly church building, magnificent in 
architecture, commodious, and adapted to the needs 
of a reverent and working body of Christians may 
present to the world their sense of the supreme 
importance of Christianity and so preach Christ 
with power. A mean, unattractive, and inadequate 
church building may display a worldly and penuri- 
ous spirit in the people, and so belittle Christianity. 
Whether Jesus would rather have the money used 
for the architectural display, even with the noblest 
motive compatible with such expenditure, than to 
have it used in evangelizing the world or in edu- 
cating converts from paganism and their children, 
is a question not easy to decide. Of course, the 
right answer depends upon which will do most for 
the advancement of the kingdom. In seeking for 
it, we must keep in mind the fact that the kingdom 
is broader than evangelization, broader even than 
religion; that it subordinates all the works of art 
that genius and skill can produce to the use of 
the King in the making of the perfect man. 

The same question arises with regard to the use 
of music in worship. The New Testament makes it 
clear that both singing and instrumental music are 
to be employed in public worship. Of the right 
sort and rightly used, it expresses joy, gratitude, 



246 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

praise, and adoration, and lifts the devout soul into 
communion with God. But how far does artistic 
music accomplish this purpose? Does a church 
have the approval of Jesus in expending vast sums 
of money to procure fine music as a means of 
drawing and entertaining the people, its own mem- 
bers included? There is a subtle danger in this 
practice. We may waste the Lord's money. 
Esthetic pleasure is not worship, and the Lord will 
know the difference. Would it not be better to 
spend part of the money to employ teachers to train 
the people to sing? However these questions may 
be answered, one thing is clear — the art of music 
has a place in public worship. Great revivals of 
religion are generally accompanied with much 
hymn-writing and the creation of new music. 

The use of images and pictures in churches is 
attended with the danger that they may be wor- 
shiped as idols. That has most certainly been 
the result, and is still the result in many countries. 
Thus, so-called Christian art is prostituted to pagan 
purposes. Here the Mosaic prohibition should be 
applied in full force. Better are the bare walls of 
the Puritan meeting-house than a house of wor- 
ship that has become a temple of idols. 

But our subject is broader than the use of art 
in public worship. That is a comparatively un- 
important incident of a great theme. Have the 
fine arts a place in the kingdom of heaven on earth ? 
If so, what is their place? 



CIVILIZATION 247 

In the coming days artists will consecrate their 
genius to the service of the King. This does not 
mean that the subjects of all their works will be 
religious. Medieval art in Europe was almost 
wholly devoted to the Christian religion. The art 
of the nineteenth century in Europe and America 
was nine-tenths pagan or non-Christian. And yet 
it is an open question whether the later art has 
not been equally useful to the kingdom. To portray 
false conceptions of Christianity, legends and super- 
stitions, does not help the cause of Christ in the 
world. The medieval artists had a noble purpose 
and wrought the best they knew. The artists of 
the future who shall attempt to treat religious sub- 
jects will have not only the devout spirit, but also 
an intelligent apprehension of the facts and truths 
of Christianity. Then, indeed, will art become the 
" handmaid of religion/' 

The true purposes of art are to give strength to 
the wings of the imagination, to interpret nature 
and help to appreciate its beauty and grandeur, to 
kindle holy aspiration, to create pure emotion, to 
cultivate esthetic sensibility, and to increase the 
sum of human happiness. These purposes are so 
noble that we may expect the coming of the king- 
dom to increase rather than to diminish works of 
art. Why should not every building be beautiful 
and every city have some buildings of royal 
splendor? Why should not every city and town 
have its art gallery filled with paintings and statues ? 



248 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Why should not our streets and parks be made 
attractive with figures and groups in marble or 
bronze? When we stop wasting our resources on 
senseless or hurtful indulgences, there will be 
money enough and to spare. Why should not the 
elementary principles of art be taught in our 
schools as well as in colleges and universities ? We 
believe that our King will not banish art, but redeem 
it from its hurtful tendencies and make it a means 
of promoting human culture and progress. 

What is the attitude of the kingdom toward the 
inferior fine arts, such as dress and manners? On 
this point the silence of Jesus is not so complete. 
The parable of Dives and Lazarus teaches with 
startling emphasis that one habitually " clothed in 
purple and fine linen, living in mirth and splendor 
every day," indifferent to the rights and needs 
of his poor neighbor, is under the severest con- 
demnation. As a rule, people are able to live in 
that style because they have robbed others. They 
have not been burglars or highwaymen — in our 
complex civilization there are a hundred ways of 
robbing others without violence or lawbreaking. 
In other lands they are the inheritors of titles and 
wealth gained originally by violence, Lazarus 
stands for those who have been despoiled. While 
this is only the husk of the parable, the lesson is 
plain. 

From the law of service which Christ explicitly 
lays down as the central law of his kingdom, it is 



CIVILIZATION 249 

fair to infer that a Christian's resources must not 
be spent in luxurious living. An important purpose 
of Christianity is to teach us how to make higher 
use of them. Earnest Christians have always had 
a conviction that plain and simple living ought to 
be the rule for the disciples of Christ. The selfish- 
ness of a life of material splendor is not its only 
evil. Vice and luxury generally go hand in hand. 
If a family lives in luxury and splendor, the man 
who pays the bills is often tempted to some kind of 
crookedness in his business in order that he may 
have money to meet the demands on his purse. 
Much of the " graft " and " boodle " which disgrace 
modern civilization may be traced to this cause. In 
the main the Puritans were right in their hot and 
intense hatred of the foppery, the dandyism, the 
exquisite manners, the overacted politeness, the 
absurd, fantastic, and extravagant dress of the 
women, the puffs, the powders, and perfumery, and 
the costly, foolish, and sometimes indecent enter- 
tainments which characterized the fashionable life 
of their times. But they went to the other extreme, 
as all such protestants are apt to do. When Quakers 
adopt a certain style of dress as the only one suit- 
able for Christians, and when Dunkards make 
buttons a matter of principle they are " tithing mint, 
anise, and cummin " (Matt. 23 : 23), whether or not 
they " omit the weightier matters of the law." 

Let us put our problem in another form. Is it 
the will of Christ that we should dress only for 



25O IF CHRIST WERE KING 

comfort and decency, or may we use personal 
adornment ? Can artistic dress be Christian dress ? 
We think it can. Avoiding waste of money in 
jewels and costly array, avoiding undue expendi- 
ture of time in attempts to follow swiftly changing 
fashions, and avoiding what will annoy others, 
Christians may still make their dress artistic, a 
source of pleasure to themselves and to others. 

Is it the will of Christ that our homes should 
be plain and bare, mere places of shelter from the 
elements? One man may not build for himself 
and family a palace and fill it with costly furni- 
ture and splendid works of art if by so doing he 
dooms a hundred other families to live in hovels. 
But the Christ who made the world so beautiful 
cannot wish us to live in ugly homes. Suppose 
one's money to have been made without wrong to 
any, and other claims to have been fairly met, 
then he may call in art to make for his family 
a house beautiful. If the married pair can use 
for themselves ingenuity, skill, taste, so much the 
better. That every family should have a beautiful 
home and live under its refining influence is part of 
what we mean by the coming of the kingdom. 

Can there be too much refinement to please the 
King ? We may illustrate by a concrete case. Eat- 
ing is perhaps the commonest voluntary act of our 
everyday life. There are many ways of taking a 
meal, from the rude, hasty feeding of the savage 
to the elaborate dinner of the millionaire. Is a 



CIVILIZATION 251 

meal in a handsome dining-room, with carved and 
upholstered furniture, on a table covered with 
snowy linen and shining silver, hand-painted china 
and sweet flowers, served by noiseless and skilful 
servants, and eaten in courses by well-dressed peo- 
ple who not only observe all the rules of polite 
society, but who also do their best to entertain 
one another, an unchristian meal because it is ar- 
tistic in its setting and accompanied by the gen- 
tility of a civilized family ? Granted that too much 
thought and labor may be given to matters of that 
kind, within reasonable limits their refining in- 
fluence is worth all it costs. Ought Christians to 
indulge in entertainments where beautiful dress, 
gentle manners, sweet courtesy, music, flowers, and 
an elaborate meal all combine to give pleasure? 
Jesus attended such functions, some of which were 
doubtless as artistic as the wealthy people of his 
time could devise, and no word of rebuke for their 
extravagance is recorded as coming from him. He 
rebukes the commercial spirit which dominated 
them in their choice of guests, but not the giving 
of the entertainments. That is a very narrow view 
of the kingdom which would make it rob life of its 
refinements and amenities — what we may call its 
artistic element. 

Ought subjects of the King to cultivate polite- 
ness, courtesy, gentle manners ? In some times and 
regions the opinion has prevailed that in order to 
be a saint one must be filthy in his personal habits. 



252 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

In other times and places it has been taught that 
loyalty to Christ requires one to be rude, brusque, 
brutally frank, and openly censorious. Was Christ 
a gentleman? He was brave, frank, truthful to 
the last degree; he disregarded some burdensome 
and foolish conventions of his time; he rebuked 
with startling plainness when rebuke was neces- 
sary; but he was always gentle, kind, patient, con- 
siderate, unselfish, and loving. If we could imitate 
our model there would be no want of politeness 
and courtesy. 

We admit that one may be a good Christian and 
eat with his knife, wear dirty linen, and neglect his 
finger-nails. He may even be a Christian and be 
rough and discourteous in his manners. We must 
not confuse the incidental with the essential. But 
would he not be a better Christian if in his per- 
sonal and social habits he observed the rules of 
polite society? Is that not one way of showing 
love to our neighbors? The coming of the king- 
dom will make gentle manners universal. Would 
not the kingdom come more rapidly if we showed 
better manners in our treatment of the unevan- 
gelized races? For example, if Europeans and 
Americans were not so uniformly rude, overbear- 
ing, and discourteous to subject peoples would not 
those peoples have a better opinion of the Christian 
religion ? 

Our conclusion is that learning, literature, art, re- 
finement, and good manners will all be promoted 



CIVILIZATION 253 

by the coming of the kingdom of heaven on earth. 
But they will be kept subordinate to higher inter- 
ests. They will not be bought at the price of 
brotherhood nor of our duty to the needy. They 
will not be made the great ends of human efforts, 
but be held as means to higher living. They will 
be so redeemed and ennobled that they will serve 
the interests of the soul while giving intellectual, 
esthetic, and social pleasure. 



XIV 

OPPOSITION 

THE enemies of the kingdom are substantially 
the same in all ages. They appear in dif- 
ferent guises and work by varying methods, but 
in character and purpose there is no change. Be- 
cause the foes of the past are the foes of the 
present a brief historical review of their warfare 
against the kingdom may help us to recognize and 
combat them. 

The welcome which Herod gave the new-born 
King, and his attempt to slay him at Bethlehem 
were prophetic of the treatment he would receive 
from the Jewish rulers. His public ministry had 
hardly commenced when they began to criticize and 
malign him. Then they plotted against him, sent 
spies to hear his discourses and watch his move- 
ments with sinister purpose, tried to trap him in his 
talk, to get from him some expression which would 
give them a safe and sure point of attack. Finally, 
by bribing, they got Jesus into their power and 
bullied Pilate into consenting to his death. This 
intense and relentless hostility to Jesus and his 
kingdom during his lifetime has been one of the 
great mysteries of human history. How can we 

254 



OPPOSITION 255 

explain it? The problem is all the more difficult 
from the fact that the most moral and religious 
men of the time were the most bitter and malignant 
antagonists of one whose pure life, heavenly teach- 
ing, loving deeds, wonderful miracles, and attractive 
personality should have won their love and 
allegiance. 

No single reason which is exhaustive can be 
given for their course. His claim of deity, of 
divine sonship, offended their idea of the unity of 
Jehovah. He and the kingdom he announced dis- 
appointed their preconceptions of the Messiah and 
his reign. But the tap-root of their hatred and 
antagonism was the nature of his kingdom in re- 
spect to the conditions and personal qualities which 
enabled one to enter it. When it became clear to 
them that his kingdom meant, first of all, goodness 
in the inner life, repentance, faith, humility, love, 
sincerity, purity, obedience to God's will, and serv- 
ice of others they hated it. That kind of life was 
the last thing they would give. The best explana- 
tion of their hatred is found in our Lord's parable 
of the Wicked Husbandmen. (Matt. 21:33-45.) 
The prophets and the son came demanding fruit — 
that is, good lives, and the Jewish people abused 
and killed them all. Jesus says their idea was to 
keep the vineyard for themselves ; they wanted their 
system, and their position, honors, privileges, and 
the name of being God's chosen and favored peo- 
ple; but they would kill any one who asked them 



256 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

to be good and to help make others good. It was 
a fearful indictment, but their course proved it to 
be true. Goodness was all Jesus asked of them; 
by his miracles he proved his right to make the 
demand; and for that they hated and slew him. 

His death and resurrection did not change their 
attitude. Many of the people were won to Christ 
by Pentecost and by the preaching of the apostles, 
but few of the ruling classes. Scholars, politicians, 
rich people, priests, and elders remained steadfast 
in their hostility to the kingdom of Jesus. Every 
effort was made to silence his preachers and sup- 
press his religion. The arrest, imprisonment, beat- 
ing, and threatening of Peter and John, and the 
martyrdom of Stephen in Jerusalem are familiar 
stories. Everywhere Paul went preaching the gos- 
pel of Jesus he encountered this deadly, relentless 
hostility on the part of the Jews, and the reason 
for it is always the same. They despised and 
feared a religion which would do away with forms 
and ceremonies such as, according to the common 
belief, constituted the religion of Judaism and 
which asked only for a holy, godly life. 

When the new religion spread beyond the limits 
of the Jewish people and began to take root among 
the Gentiles of the Roman Empire the antagonism 
to it took somewhat different forms, but it was 
no less intense and relentless. It is a curious fact 
that while the Jews hated it as an apostasy, the 
Roman world despised it on account of its Jewish 



OPPOSITION 257 

origin. It found the pagan religions strongly en- 
trenched in the personal, social, economic, and 
political life of the people. To overcome those 
religions required a radical and thorough revolu- 
tion in habits of feeling, thought, and action which 
had been fixed for centuries. To effect such a 
change seemed a hopeless task. 

As soon as it gained sufficient footing to attract at- 
tention all classes arrayed themselves against it. 
Learned men, philosophers, and scholars, regarded it 
as a foolish superstition, whose spread would be 
ruinous to culture. Rulers and statesmen hated it 
because it could not, like the pagan religions, be used 
as an instrument of statecraft and tyranny. The 
priests fought it because they feared that it would 
take away their power and their source of revenue. 
All devout pagans looked upon it as a religion with- 
out gods and without temples, an atheistic and 
blasphemous cult. The brutal masses reviled it and 
were ready for any act of barbaric cruelty against 
its adherents because it rebuked their vices and 
would rob them of debasing sports and entertain- 
ments. Craftsmen and artisans were hostile to it 
because the occupations of many of them were 
closely linked with pagan worship. Many citizens 
feared that the toleration of it had incurred the 
anger of the gods and brought upon the State the 
calamities from which it suffered, and were, there- 
fore, in favor of its extermination. They were 
able to use against it not only argument, ridicule, 

R 



258 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

social ostracism, and expulsion from one's family, 
but also force in the infliction of torture and death. 
In the vast Roman Empire for two centuries one 
became a Christian and openly confessed Christ 
at the peril of every worldly good, even life itself. 
The enmity against the kingdom thus manifested 
by Jews and Gentiles in the early days has con- 
tinued through the ages and still continues. Per- 
secution of converts on mission fields is not so in- 
cessant nor so cruel as it was in the Roman Empire, 
but that is due partly to international comity and 
partly to the growth of world-wide sentiment in 
favor of respecting personal rights. The hatred of 
the religion of Jesus is not less intense, and the life 
of a native Christian in many parts of Asia or 
Africa is anything but an easy or comfortable one. 
The world has never received the gospel as good 
news. The theory we used to hear so much about 
in missionary meetings that the " world is hungry 
for the gospel " has been exploded. History and 
experience prove that the world is hungry for 
money, for power, for pleasure, for self-indulgence, 
for the gratification of its appetites, and that the 
last thing the world wants is to learn how to be 
free from its sins and to live a good life. Re- 
ligious it wants to be, but religious in its own way — 
a way that does not require personal holiness. The 
rule has been that it has required long and patient 
effort to win a few to Christ. The few help to 
spread the word, and their numbers gradually in- 



OPPOSITION 259 

crease in spite of opposition. Sometimes the 
courage of the few in the face of deadly hostility 
proves the power of the gospel and " the blood of 
the martyrs is the seed of the church." Occasion- 
ally a people seems to have been providentially 
prepared, like the Karens of Burma, the Telugus, 
or the Koreans, and the work spreads rapidly 
among them; but even in such cases there is no 
lack of hostility. 

In Christian lands there is opposition to the king- 
dom just as bitter as the world has ever felt, but 
it is veiled. The enemies of Jesus pay that meas- 
ure of respect to the public sentiment which his 
religion has formed. In this country, for example, 
every man knows that it will put him in bad repute 
with his neighbors to be recognized as an open 
enemy of Jesus Christ. For that reason most of 
his foes veil their enmity under some other form 
of expression than an open declaration of hostil- 
ity. For that reason he has millions of false 
friends — men and women who want to be known 
as Christians while they oppose the extension of 
his kingdom. Perhaps they juggle themselves into 
believing that they are friends of Jesus while they 
are hostile to his doctrines and principles. 

If we analyze this opposition and trace it to its 
source we find it in the depravity of man. Or if 
we accept literally the teaching of Christ on the 
subject we may go a step further and trace it to 
Satan. His parable of the Tares (Matt. 13:24-30 



260 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

and 35-43), as interpreted by himself, unequivo- 
cally teaches this doctrine. " The good seed/' he 
says, " these are the sons of the kingdom ; but the 
tares are the sons of wickedness, and the enemy that 
sowed them is the devil. " At the beginning of 
our Lord's ministry Satan attacked him in the wil- 
derness and endeavored to destroy his work by in- 
ducing him to adopt methods which would have 
been fatal to real success. When the heart of Jesus 
was encouraged by the report of their triumphant 
work which the Seventy brought he said, " I beheld 
Satan fallen as lightning from heaven." The prog- 
ress of his kingdom, swift as lightning compared 
with the countless ages of preparation which had 
preceded it, would be a victory over Satan. The 
general teaching of the New Testament is consistent 
with this doctrine of our Lord, and we need have 
no hesitation in accepting it as true. 

But in our warfare for the establishment of the 
kingdom on earth we must attack Satan in his serv- 
ants. We can fight him in no other way. " The 
sons of wickedness " whom Satan places in the 
world are men and women ; " the sons of the king- 
dom " whom Jesus places in the world are also 
men and women; and between these two armies 
the age-long battle must be fought out till Christ 
is acknowledged as King. At the same time it 
should be remembered that it is the " wickedness " 
that we hate and would destroy and not " the sons 
of it." Our warfare is for rescue and not for 



OPPOSITION 26l 

destruction. In order that we may be victorious 
it is necessary for us to know our enemies. 

Opposition to the kingdom is personal and 
organised. 

Every person who refuses to accept Chfist as 
Saviour and to obey him as Lord belongs in the 
forces of the enemy. By birth and natural choice 
we are all on the wrong side, and to continue there 
we have only to remain indifferent and inactive. 
With loving purpose and divine authority Jesus calls 
every man who hears the gospel and says, " Fol- 
low me." Not to heed the call and act is to reject 
Christ Such a rejection can proceed only from 
enmity to the kingdom. Various reasons for it 
are given, but rarely the true one. The faults of 
Christians, disbelief of some doctrine, doubt of 
the promises, self-righteousness and self-confidence, 
unreadiness at the moment of the call, fear of los- 
ing the friendship of worldly people are among the 
reasons given for not becoming a Christian, but 
none of them goes to the root of the matter. The 
real reason is enmity to the kingdom, to its laws 
and ways, to the kind of life which it requires. 
And so the rejecter puts himself, his influence, all 
that he counts for in opposition to the kingdom. 
This may seem like a severe statement, but the 
only subjects of the kingdom are those who obey 
the King; all others are its foes. So far in its 
history the rejecters have greatly outnumbered the 
disciples. That i9 trtie even in so-called Christian 



262 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

lands. The majority on the wrong side is much 
larger in lands where evangelization has made lit- 
tle progress. All these must be reckoned among 
the forces to be overcome before the kingdom can 
be fully established. 

It is not easy to discover and describe organized 
opposition. We may properly give that name to 
the enmity against the kingdom which is felt by 
any class or group of persons together and which 
springs from a source which is their bond of 
union. The Jewish rulers, devoted to a system of 
religion which, in the divine order, was to be super- 
seded, and fighting for its maintenance because it 
could be maintained without personal holiness, fur- 
nish a good example. The group whose members 
banded themselves together and swore not to eat 
nor drink till they had killed Paul is another ex- 
ample. We cannot discuss these different forms 
of enmity at length and can give only a brief glance 
at a few of them. When the members of a caste in 
India learn that one of their number is about to 
become a Christian and break his caste they gather 
all their forces and use every possible deterrent 
to prevent it; and such is the power and malignity 
of an offended caste that its members dread them 
worse than they dread death itself. Europeans who 
have class feeling and maintain class distinctions 
based upon hereditary power and wealth, and op- 
pose the principles of the kingdom, which call for 
equality and brotherhood, represent the same kind 



OPPOSITION 263 

of organized opposition. If there is any differ- 
ence in the two, the caste feeling of India is the 
more respectable in that it is free from hypocrisy. 
The whole aristocratic system of Europe in church, 
in society, and in State is antagonistic to the king- 
dom. Those who wield the money power in 
America — the owners of organized and predatory 
wealth, who bribe legislators, city councils, juries, 
and judges, who steal franchises, who " conspire 
in restraint of trade," who crush weaker competi- 
tors, who combine to rob the people by advancing 
prices ; those representatives of " special interests " 
which prosper better under bad laws and so plot 
and bribe and fight for bad laws, are among the 
deadliest foes of the kingdom. They would rob 
the people of their rights, thwart all efforts to 
maintain free government, and destroy democracy. 
Ideas of equality and brotherhood are hateful to 
them. They corrupt every avenue of business and 
make politics an offense to decent people. They 
are the most dangerous foes of the kingdom be- 
cause they often pose as its friends. They join 
churches and give money to Christian purposes. 
Their work against the kingdom is so indirect and 
hidden that no one recognizes and appreciates it 
but the Lord, and men honor them as philanthro- 
pists. Of course, the purpose of their organiza- 
tion is to make more money, but in serving Mammon 
they serve the devil and use their energies to keep 
Christ* from his throne. 



264 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

The " machine " politicians, the " bosses/' and 
all men who ase in politics for money or power 
form another class which is hostile to the kingdom. 
They often gain their positions by trickery and 
fraud, and they hold them not for the purpose of 
serving the people, but for purely selfish reasons. 
They are the tools of the " special interests " in 
making bad laws or in preventing the enactment of 
good laws. They are traitors to their country and 
use their power to prevent the development of the 
Christian State. That they are virulent and de- 
termined foes of the kingdom is shown by their 
attitude toward men like Charles E. Hughes and 
Theodore Roosevelt when they happen to be gov- 
ernors and presidents, men who certainly have not 
gone to extremes in the matter of Christian states- 
manship. It is manifest that if men with a per- 
fect Christian ideal and a fixed purpose to live 
up to it were in authority such politicians would 
hate them with yet greater intensity. They are 
far more dangerous than traitors whose treason is 
obvious and who can be tried and shot, or than 
common rogues who can be put in prison. Their 
crimes against the people and against good gov- 
ernment are so intricate, so disguised, and so " re- 
spectable," even when known, that their punish- 
ment is almost impossible. The only way to ex- 
terminate them and the men of wealth who corrupt 
them is for Christian citizens to take their religion 
into the service of the State. They must create 



OPPOSITION 265 

a public conscience intelligent enough to detect 
their crimes and keen enough to demand their 
punishment when detected. 

Men who are engaged in an injurious business 
like the traffic in intoxicating liquors, and who are 
bent on securing protection for their business under 
the law, form other groups that are hostile to the 
kingdom. Men go into the liquor business for 
the single purpose of making money. They know 
they are appealing to a debasing appetite and they 
even use means to strengthen that appetite. They 
are careless of the fact that they are ruining men, 
body and soul, that they are impoverishing fam- 
ilies and reducing them to beggary, that they are 
heaping disgrace upon innocent women and chil- 
dren, that they are wasting the resources of the 
land. When their business is attacked in the in- 
terests of humanity they organize for its defense. 
The money they have gained by destroying others 
they use to corrupt politicians, legislators, police- 
men, judges, juries, and all purchasable persons 
whose business it is to make and execute good laws. 
Thus they band themselves together to fight against 
the kingdom of heaven on earth. With them we 
must place all those who unite to defend or promote 
any evil business like gambling or vicious sports. 

With the organized foes of the kingdom we 
must place those who combine to express and per- 
petuate racial antipathy. The kingdom means uni- 
versal brotherhood; it means that before it means 



266 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

anything else, and every action which expresses 
contempt or dislike for another human being on 
account of color or racial peculiarities is an action 
against the kingdom. For example, when the peo- 
ple in the southern part of the United States unite 
to disfranchise the Negroes, to make their schools 
less effective lest they shall rise by means of edu- 
cation, and to make laws to bar them from equal 
privileges they injure the Negroes; they injure 
themselves yet more in that they cultivate a spirit 
of contempt and hatred which is worse than a 
black skin, and they strike blows directly at the 
King of kings. And yet many of the people who 
do these things call themselves Christians! Labor 
unions of both North and South which refuse mem- 
bership to Negroes and non-union laborers who 
refuse to work on the same jobs with them, thus 
barring them out of honorable callings by which 
they might earn a living and rise in the social scale, 
are guilty of the same offense against the king- 
dom. When the European or American members 
of a club in Yokohama or Calcutta refuse to allow 
a native to cross the threshold of their clubhouse, 
no matter how cultivated or intelligent or moral he 
may be, they not only show their own littleness, 
they also set themselves against the kingdom of 
heaven on earth. These are familiar examples of 
world-wide wrong-doing which hinder its progress. 
The war-god and its devotees are among the 
leading antagonists of the kingdom. The disposi- 



OPPOSITION 267 

tion to fight, the habit of glorifying war, and the 
conviction that it is a necessity, are apparently in- 
surmountable obstacles in the way of its coming. 
A few years ago 

Doctor Skarvan, a young Austrian physician, refused 
to perform his military service on the ground that, being 
a Christian, he could not countenance the idea of armies 
whose purpose is the killing of men. For this he was 
relegated for twenty weeks to an insane asylum, con- 
demned to four months' solitary confinement in a prison, 
drummed out of the army, deprived of his diploma, and 
consequently prevented from practising his profession. 1 

And this after about sixteen centuries of nom- 
inal submission to the Prince of Peace! How per- 
sistent is the idea that the chief duty of man is to 
kill his fellow-men ! But this idea must give place 
to the ideas of Christ, ideas of love and service and 
doing good to all men, before his kingdom can be 
established. Nations must, somehow, be made to 
see that the war-god is a demon that will have to 
be dethroned before Christ can reign. 

When so-called Christian nations perpetrate 
wrongs upon pagan peoples the worst feature of 
the iniquity is that it hinders the progress of the 
kingdom. Of course, all wrong-doing has that ef- 
fect, but this kind is especially bad, because it pre- 
sents Christianity to the pagan mind as a religion 
that makes its adherents cruel and unjust. It is 
thus, indirectly, Use majeste, treason against our 

1 Theodore Stanton. The Independent, October 27, 19 10. 



268 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

King, as well as a violation of the principles of his 
kingdom. Such was the opium war which Eng- 
land waged against China; such were the actions 
of the European powers in appropriating portions 
of Chinese territory. Such are the Belgian and 
French atrocities in the Congo. Nations in such 
acts as these, and in waging unholy wars, have 
been among the most powerful of organized forces 
hostile to the kingdom. 

But the enemy that has done our cause the 
greatest harm has been a perverted and paganized 
church, masquerading under the name of Christian. 
It is easy to see that gigantic evil would surely re- 
sult if a great organization, claiming to be the only 
body representing Christian doctrines, principles, 
and methods, should represent exactly the oppo- 
site. A church that substitutes rites and cere- 
monies for personal faith in a personal Saviour 
as the way of salvation, obedience to the church for 
obedience to Christ as the right way of life, dogmas 
and decrees of the church for the word of God, 
juggled elements for the " living Bread which came 
down from heaven/' confession to man and priestly 
absolution for confession to God and divine for- 
giveness, faithfulness to the church for personal 
righteousness as a means of securing divine ap- 
proval ; a church that is monarchical in its rule, aris- 
tocratic in its social life, and oppressive in its gov- 
ernment and thus perpetuates political tyranny and 
social caste in the earth; a church that robs its 



OPPOSITION 269 

people through appeals to their superstitious fears; 
a church that uses force, persecution, and torture 
instead of instruction and persuasion to restore dis- 
senters ; a church that is notorious for the vice and 
immorality of its officials ; a church that is " the 
implacable, intriguing, unscrupulous, unsleeping 
enemy of religious liberty and human progress," 
stands for practically everything that is not Chris- 
tian and that opposes and hinders the coming of the 
kingdom. Whether this is not a fair description 
of at least two great divisions of the " Universal 
Christian Church " as they have been for centuries 
and still are, we leave to the judgment of intelligent 
subjects of the King. If it is fair, these 
" churches " are his most terrible foes, more to be 
dreaded than all others, and the hardest to 
overcome. 

Of course, the greatest avowed enemies to the 
extension of the kingdom are the devoted adhe- 
rents of other religions — pagans, Jews, and Mo- 
hammedans. By inheritance, by training, by 
habit they are strongly bound to the religion of 
their ancestors. The pagan priests hold their peo- 
ple in bondage through appeals to their supersti- 
tious fears. The people would often receive the 
gospel gladly if it were not for the deadly hostility 
of the priests. In some cases antagonism to Chris- 
tianity is strengthened by social customs like the 
caste system of India. But in every pagan land 
one is bound by a thousand cords to his old 



270 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

religion. The ancient hatred of the Jews for Christ 
and his kingdom has been maintained through the 
Christian centuries and strengthened by the abuse 
which has been heaped upon them by the so-called 
Christian peoples. Mohammedans have a heredi- 
tary contempt for Christianity because the Chris- 
tianity of western Asia, northern Africa, and 
southern Europe had really become contemptible 
in the sixth and seventh centuries ; and they are not 
only contemptuous and virulent haters of Chris- 
tianity ; they are ardent, zealous, and tireless propa- 
gandists of their own faith. It is said that the 
Arab traders in Africa are everywhere and always 
apostles of Mohammedanism, and that they are 
rapidly bringing that great continent under the 
sway of the Crescent. There Christianity is face 
to face with an aggressive foe, and so far is losing 
the battle. Already one-third of the people of 
Africa confess the doctrine of Mohammed as their 
creed. Thus we have these vast multitudes, num- 
bering in all about a thousand millions, two-thirds of 
the world's total population, holding more than two- 
thirds of its soil, arrayed in deadly hostility to the 
kingdom. 

The foes we have enumerated are mostly con- 
scious and deliberate in their enmity, but there is 
such a thing as unconscious antagonism to the king- 
dom. It is only fair to say that some are its foes 
without knowing it. When Jesus announced to his 
disciples that he must go to his throne by the way 



OPPOSITION 271 

of the cross, Peter said to him in substance, Be it 
far from thee, Lord ; do not choose that way ; take 
some method more consistent with thy worth and 
dignity. No doubt this protest of Peter was 
prompted by sincere affection and reverence for 
his Master. And yet that Jesus regarded it as 
antagonistic to his kingdom is evident from his 
reply : " Get thee behind me, Satan : thou art a 
stumbling-block unto me; for thou mindest not the 
things of God, but the things of men " (Matt. 16: 
22 y 23). He meant that the adoption of Peter's 
suggestion would be fatal to his success, ruinous 
to the prospects of the kingdom. 

The progress of the kingdom has often been 
sadly retarded by the blunders of well-meaning 
friends. It is possible that those who persecuted 
the heretics honestly thought it was the best way 
to promote the cause of Him who taught that 
love and brotherhood were primary duties. When 
Jesuits engaged in political intrigues and made 
free use of lies to further their purpose they may 
have thought that they could thus advance the king- 
dom of him whose ways were ways of simplicity 
and truth. Puritans who fought to keep musical 
instruments out of their churches were no doubt 
honest in their conviction that they were contend- 
ing for a Christian principle. When churches in 
our time sell for money or popularity their testi- 
mony for righteousness, they may believe that to 
be the way to prosper, and that such compromises 



2.J2 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

are necessary to win success. We must be chari- 
table in our judgment of people's motives; neverthe- 
less such blundering is inexcusable. If there had 
been any excuse for it Jesus would not have called 
Peter Satan. It must arise from moral blindness 
and a total misunderstanding of the purposes of 
Christ and the nature of his kingdom. 

Even this brief and imperfect sketch reveals to 
us a terrible array of enemies. The wickedness, 
the wealth, the power of the world are immeasur- 
able, and they are arrayed against Christ. There 
are the countless millions who for personal reasons 
reject him and refuse to let him reign over them. 
The great reason is the wickedness of their own 
hearts, from which they are not easily turned. 
There are the organized forces which Satan uses 
against the kingdom: the caste system and class 
feeling, racial antipathy, the war-god, the money- 
power, the political machine, trades that injure and 
destroy, nations nominally Christian but acting in 
an unchristian manner, perverted and paganized 
churches, the hosts of adherents of false religions, 
and the blinded and mistaken friends of Chris- 
tianity. All the cunning, the audacity, the activ- 
ity, and the persistence of Satan are behind these 
hosts. Is it possible for them to be overcome? 
Jesus saw them from the beginning, and of him it 
was prophesied : " He shall not fail nor be dis- 
couraged till he have set law in the earth " (Isa. 42 : 
4). And the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews 



OPPOSITION 273 

says of him that " he, when he had offered one sac- 
rifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand 
of God; from henceforth expecting till his en- 
emies be made the footstool of his feet" (Heb. 
10: 12, 13). If he is not appalled nor discouraged 
by the number and power of his foes we ought 
not to be. Two articles of every true disciple's 
creed are that God is stronger than his enemies 
and that his power and grace are pledged to the 
salvation of this world. " They that be with us 
are more than they that be with them " (2 Kings 
6:16). 



XV 

PRESENT PROGRESS 

IT is difficult to measure the progress of the 
kingdom. Anything more than an approximate 
estimate is clearly impossible. It cannot be meas- 
ured by the number of the professed adherents of 
Christianity. Many of those who, in the statistics 
of the world's population are counted as Christians, 
are so far from living the life of the kingdom, 
indeed, in their purposes and activities are so hos- 
tile to it that they must be reckoned among its 
enemies. To go through the world and ascertain 
who are serving the King and who are not is an 
impossible task for any man or any number of 
men. Only the Lord himself can form an accurate 
judgment on this subject. 

Furthermore, many who understand the King 
and personally are obedient to him are unable to 
carry out his will in all their relations on account 
of the opposition of others. The organizations in 
which they are tied up do not act as they would 
if all, or even a majority, were loyal subjects, and 
so they are hampered in their efforts to realize the 
kingdom. The family, the church, the State, as 
we know them in the best conditions yet attained, 
274 



PRESENT PROGRESS 275 

are thus composed of the good and the bad, the 
Christian and the unchristian, and it is impossible 
for any human mind to discern and define the exact 
proportion of each. Matthew Arnold says: 

Of the religion of the Old Testament we can pretty- 
nearly see to the end, we can trace fully enough the ex- 
perimental proof of it in history. But of Christianity, 
the future is as yet almost unknown. For that the world 
cannot get on without righteousness we have the clear ex- 
perience, and a grand and admirable experience it is. But 
what the world will become by the thorough use of that 
which is really righteous, the method and the secret and 
the sweet reasonableness of Jesus, we have as yet hardly 
any experience at all. 1 

In other words, the human race has, as yet, hardly 
tried Christianity at all, and so we have no ap- 
preciable progress of the kingdom to measure. 

Applied to Christianity as a social force this 
statement is too sweeping, applied to it as a per- 
sonal life it falls short of justice. Through the 
transforming power and the moral impetus of that 
religion part of the human race has made wonderful 
progress, some elements of which are easily dis- 
cernible; and thousands of men and women have 
discovered " the method and the secret " of Jesus 
and in their lives have displayed his " sweet rea- 
sonableness/' And yet, as the statement of an 
acute and thoughtful observer, it deserves careful 
attention. Only a small portion of the race has 

1 " Lit. and Dogma," N. Y. Ed., p. 319. 



276 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

tried Christianity at all. Those who have tried it 
have so misunderstood its real nature, have so 
amalgamated it with paganism, have so corrupted 
it with their own prejudices and desires, or have 
so far failed to realize the ideals it creates that the 
results are not what might naturally be expected. 
Nevertheless, that a religion so weakened and ham- 
pered, so weighted with the ball and chain of human 
infirmity and wickedness, should have accom- 
plished what it has is the great marvel of the ages. 
Its past achievements kindle the imagination with 
thoughts of how much it might do to make the 
race great and good if only it had free way in the 
hearts and lives of all the disciples of Jesus. 

Considered as a realm of souls the kingdom has 
had remarkable increase. At Christ's death a few 
score acknowledged him as King; now there are 
millions who bow before him as their sovereign. 
We do not here take account of the greater num- 
ber who have been redeemed by his grace and 
power and are now with him in glory. They are 
part of his kingdom, their salvation and perfection 
are results of his work in the world, these trophies 
of grace are part of the value of his kingdom to 
mankind; but our attention is now fixed upon the 
kingdom of heaven on earth and to that our discus- 
sion should be limited. The number of Christians 
now living on the earth is in striking and gratifying 
contrast with the little handful who dared to bear 
his name when he went to Calvary and not one of 



PRESENT PROGRESS 2JJ 

these additions to the number of his subjects has 
been made by force or by priestly ceremonial, but 
every one has been gained by the persuasion of the 
truth, by the work of the Spirit, and by the free 
exercise of his own will. 

The progress of the kingdom is manifest in the 
general elevation of ideals of character. If we 
study pagan literature we find that the general con- 
ception of what constituted a good character has 
always been far below the Christian standard. 
While the moral precepts of Buddha, Confucius, 
Zoroaster, and Plato were lofty, they were never 
apprehended by the great masses of the people, and 
when apprehended by the few were never thought 
to be practicable. Outside of Greece no such ideals 
were ever presented in Europe before the Chris- 
tian era. With some possible exceptions among 
the gentler Asiatics, it was never considered wrong 
to take vengeance upon an enemy. One who did 
not resent an injury was wanting in proper spirit, 
was probably a coward and poltroon. Deeds of 
ferocious cruelty were looked upon as a matter of 
course from those in the highest positions and oc- 
casioned no disgrace. 

Personal purity was scarcely thought of, espe- 
cially in men; some nations required it of their 
women, not so much on moral grounds as to gratify 
the pride and selfishness of the men. Shameless 
lust characterized the lives of men in every posi- 
tion and caused them no loss in public estima- 



278 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

tion. Very few pagan people have regarded truth- 
fulness as an essential part of good character. 
One who could lie with success gained applause. 
Honesty in trade and in work was expected of 
no one, and a chief reason for the poverty, want 
of enterprise, and degradation of pagan nations has 
been the lack of confidence between man and man. 
In every Christian community public sentiment de- 
mands in people who expect to be respected and 
honored kindness, patience, personal purity, truth- 
fulness, integrity, and other virtues of this class. 
This is great gain and marks the progress of the 
kingdom. 

Such ideals of personal character as paganism 
had were never realized. Its moralists and phil- 
osophers could conceive lofty ideals, but confessed 
that the realization of them was impossible. For 
this purpose there was a sad lack of power in 
human nature. The far nobler ideals of Chris- 
tianity have been largely realized by virtue of its 
dynamic. Speaking of his people, Jesus said, " I 
came that they may have life, and may have it 
abundantly." That abundant life means power to 
realize the Christian ideal. The world is to-day 
rich in beautiful characters such as paganism at 
its best never dreamed of. Their number is 
steadily increasing, and this is, in its deepest sense, 
the progress of the kingdom. 

In this connection the question has been raised 
whether, after all, the Christian ideal of character 



PRESENT PROGRESS 279 

is complete and satisfactory. In respect to the 
gentler virtues that ideal is confessedly transcend- 
ent, but does it include the more robust virtues 
like courage, fortitude, endurance, strength, reso- 
lution, and manliness? Defenders of war argue 
that it is needed to create and cultivate this class 
of virtues in the masculine part of the race and 
save it from effeminacy. In reply to this question 
several things may be said. In the first place the 
questioner is invited to look at Jesus — the author 
and exemplar of the Christian Ideal. He was the 
bravest man that ever lived on this round world of 
ours. Though he was supremely great in love, gen- 
tleness, kindness, patience, and mercy, his virility 
and courage are yet more amazing. Impelled by loy- 
alty to his mission, he deliberately took a course 
which he clearly foresaw would alienate his kindred 
and friends, offend the rulers of his own nation, and 
inevitably lead to death. The more intense the 
hostility became, the closer his relentless foes gath- 
ered about him, the more outspoken were his of- 
fensive utterances, and the more dauntless his atti- 
tude before them all. The world never saw and 
never again will see such perfect courage. If men 
are anxious to cultivate the heroic spirit let them 
follow Jesus, and they will find a large place for its 
exercise. 

It is not necessary for us to engage in the busi- 
ness of slaughtering our fellow-men in order to be 
saved from effeminacy. Virility, courage, forti- 



28o IF CHRIST WERE KING 

tude, strength, and all manly virtues are required 
to fight the evils in the world. The foes of the 
kingdom are numerous and strong, and we must 
attack them if we are subjects of the King. Men 
who engage earnestly and persistently in this war- 
fare will need all the manly qualities they can mus- 
ter, more than the natural man can muster; the 
brave, heroic Christ in them must be their strength. 
It was this need of courage to which Paul referred 
when he wrote " quit you like men, be strong/' " in 
nothing terrified by your adversaries." 

The courage demanded in the soldiers of Jesus 
is not that of the bulldog, the tiger, nor the bear; 
it is moral courage, the courage to be aggressive for 
the right in the face of the world's hatred and con- 
tempt. That we are learning to appreciate the su- 
perior quality of moral courage is conclusive proof 
that the kingdom of heaven is making progress in 
the world. 

More obvious and extensive proof of its prog- 
ress may be found in the improved relations of man 
to his fellow-man. We can take only a swallow's 
flight across the meadow in which grow almost 
countless flowers of attainment and get a swift 
glance at a few of them. 

One evidence of gain is the greater value that, 
in the common thought, is put upon human life and 
the greater effort made to save it. When we read 
in history of the incessant wars of the past and 
of millions slain in battle, of the brutal slaughter 



PRESENT PROGRESS 28 1 

of prisoners of war, especially the inhabitants of 
besieged and captured cities, men, women, and 
children butchered without mercy, of a wealthy 
Roman ordering a slave to be killed to amuse a 
guest who had never seen a man die, of the high- 
est tribunal in Rome sentencing six hundred inno- 
cent slaves to death because one of their fellow- 
slaves had killed his master, of Roman families 
throwing their new-born children out to perish, of 
Cleopatra trying different kinds of poison upon 
men and watching their dying agonies that she might 
study their effects, and find that such deeds of 
heartless cruelty could be matched in almost every 
pagan land and were not wanting even among the 
Jews, we feel that in the ancient world life was 
held very cheap, and the slaughter of human beings 
was the principal business. Often pestilence or 
famine would sweep away half the population of 
a country, and little effort was made to prevent 
its repetition. Even at the present day in pagan 
lands the sick die unattended or the attendants 
hasten their death. 

Now contrast all this with the care and pains 
taken to preserve life in Christian lands. Effort is 
made to avoid war, but when war comes the loss 
of life is probably not one-tenth of what it was 
in ancient times. The lives of the sick and wounded 
and of non-combatants are carefully preserved. No 
one can take the life of another, no matter how 
high in authority he may be, without violating law 



282 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

and suffering penalty. Hundreds of laws have been 
passed for the purpose of saving life. Medical 
science, surgery, life-saving inventions, hospitals, 
and many other agencies are enlisted in the same 
work. The effort made to save infant life is one 
of the pleasing wonders of the age. What has 
made the change? It may not be due wholly to 
the influence of Christianity, but that has been the 
largest factor in producing it. The teaching of 
Jesus that man is of infinite value because created 
in the image of God and endowed with capacity 
for eternal life, working its way slowly into the 
thoughts and sentiments of the race, has at last 
made us feel that all human life is precious. Grow- 
ing humanity, kindness, tenderness, and good will, 
which are fruits of Christianity, would produce the 
same change. From this source comes also the 
recognition of human rights, especially the right 
to life unless it has been forfeited by crime. But 
whether or not other causes have contributed to 
this splendid result, it is one of the evidences that 
the kingdom of heaven is making progress on the 
earth. 

The great improvement in family life and the 
superiority of Christian homes to any others in 
the world afford striking evidence of this progress. 
At the time of our Lord's advent under Roman 
law the authority of a father over his children was 
absolute. Brutal, cruel, tyrannical fathers could 
abuse their children as they pleased, could sell 



PRESENT PROGRESS 283 

them into slavery, could maim them that they might 
be efficient beggars, could even kill them with no 
one to call them to account. Similar authority has 
generally been exercised by parents in pagan lands. 
Now, in Christian nations the authority of parents 
is wisely limited by law, the rights of the child are 
respected, and if it is neglected or abused the State 
may take it away from its parents and provide for 
its care and training. 

In the general matter of caring for children there 
has been a remarkable change. In the most highly 
civilized pagan lands, like ancient Rome, India, and 
China, infanticide has been a crime fearfully com- 
mon. And children that have been allowed to live 
have received little attention beyond a supply of 
food and clothing in northern climates. With com- 
paratively few exceptions they have been suffered 
to grow up without education, without moral train- 
ing, and exposed to all the contaminating influences 
of a debased society. But in Christian lands it 
is now generally recognized that the proper care 
and faithful training of children are primary 
duties. Homes, secular schools, and Bible-schools 
are devoted to this great work ; and our wisest and 
best men and women are constantly studying the 
problem of how these institutions may be improved. 
Books, magazines, and papers for children are 
abundantly supplied. Most civilized States have 
laws prohibiting child labor in mines, factories, and 
other places where the bodies or minds of the 



284 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

young are likely to be injured, protecting children 
from cruelty, and providing for compulsory educa- 
tion. 

This has been called " the children's age," 
but, as yet, we have seen only the beginning of it. 
Why this remarkable change? It has come almost 
wholly from the teaching of our King. He opened 
the fountain for this movement when he took lit- 
tle children in his arms and blessed them and said: 
" Suffer little children and forbid them not to come 
unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven" 
(Matt. 19: 14) ; and again when he said: " Except 
ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no 
wise enter into the kingdom of heaven " (Matt. 18: 
3). But the genius of Christianity compels this 
earnest and faithful attention to the young. For 
the main purpose of our religion is to make good 
men and women, and the only way to accomplish 
that purpose is to make the utmost of childhood 
and youth as the best periods for culture and 
training. 

In every barbarous tribe and in every pagan civ- 
ilization men have created and fostered low opin- 
ions of woman. A noted pundit of India, in reply 
to an inquiry concerning the doctrines of the 
Brahman religion, said that on almost every sub- 
ject there was great diversity of opinion among 
their teachers, but they were all agreed that woman 
is vile. A similar opinion, not always so grossly 
expressed, has been held in nearly every pagan 



PRESENT PROGRESS 285 

and Mohammedan land. In the most highly civil- 
ized nations the tendency of legislation has been 
to make woman a thing rather than a person, a 
chattel rather than an independent human being. 
In nations of a lower order man has made her a 
degraded and ill-treated slave or a painted and 
gilded toy. The most lamentable result of holding 
and promulgating such low opinions of woman has 
been that she has had a tendency to live down to 
them and has become almost as bad as men have 
declared her to be. That tendency is in accordance 
with a well-known law of human nature. Thus a 
real degradation of woman has been accomplished. 
The influence of Christianity has been to elevate 
woman to her true position as the companion and 
equal of man. Her position in the Jewish nation, 
far superior to that she occupied in pagan coun- 
tries, prepared the way for the greater blessings 
Christianity was to confer upon woman. In the 
gospel narratives women are conspicuous among 
the pupils and friends of Jesus. In the story of 
the Acts of the Apostles women are among the 
first to receive the gospel and begin to assume that 
prominence in the churches which they evidently 
held during the whole apostolic period. Of this 
prominence the epistles afford abundant proof. 
This influence has continued to be operative 
through the Christian ages. The worship of the 
Virgin Mary, though mistaken in its origin and evil 
in some of its results, nevertheless tended to the 



286 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

elevation of woman. Chivalry held much that was 
fantastic and foolish, yet the general tendency of 
it was to honor womanhood and to help woman to 
her true position. 

Even in the modern customs and laws of Europe 
and America there was much that was unjust to 
woman, but these wrongs are being slowly righted. 
Her personality, her independence, and her right to 
equal privileges with men are generally recognized 
in Christian lands. This is enormous gain for the 
world and is part of the progress of the kingdom. 

When Jesus came to this world probably one- 
half of its inhabitants were in slavery. The slaves 
were not members of inferior races ; they were cap- 
tives in war, persons who had been sold by their 
parents or creditors, or those who had by misfor- 
tune fallen into the hands of the cruel and mer- 
cenary. What information is available regarding 
ancient slavery forces us to believe that the condi- 
tion of the slaves was much worse than anything 
known in modern times outside of Africa. Very 
early Christianity set itself against the institution. 
It was felt that it was wrong for one Christian to 
buy or sell another or to hold him in bondage. 
This was the point against which the opposition 
first directed itself. The church Fathers wrote and 
preached against that form of slavery. Slave- 
holders were exhorted to free their slaves, if not 
during their lifetime at least by will. 

As the social power and purpose of Christianity 



PRESENT PROGRESS 287 

were more and more manifested the feeling grew 
that every man was a brother to every other man 
and that human slavery in any form was an out- 
rageous wrong. It is not much to the credit of 
European and American Christianity that it was 
not till the nineteenth century after Christ that this 
feeling became strong enough to secure general 
manumission. But it came at last, and now only 
in a few dark and secluded spots of earth, like 
portions of Africa, is such a thing as human slavery 
known. When we consider the blighting influence 
of this institution on both the slaves and the owners, 
its abolition is seen to be a great gain for humanity 
and indicates the progress of the kingdom. 

As we have already stated, some form of social 
caste oppressive and humiliating to the masses of 
the people was well-nigh universal before Chris- 
tianity began to exert its social influence in the 
world. While some of it yet remains, the growth 
of social equality in those nations which are most 
thoroughly Christianized has been remarkable. In 
spite of all that has been said about the rich grow- 
ing richer and the poor becoming poorer, the dis- 
tribution of property is far more nearly equal than it 
has ever been in the past. There is general respect 
for the rights of the common man. These changes 
have come slowly, because the disciples of Christ 
have not appreciated the social aspects of Chris- 
tianity. But, though much belated, they are 
arriving. 



288 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Many facts from history might be used to illus- 
trate this change; we have space for only one. 
When the peasants of Germany, wretched in their 
dreary lot, thought they saw in the Reformation 
under Luther a ray of hope that their miserable 
condition might be improved, they formulated and 
published certain demands of rights from the 
princes and nobles. For making and trying to en- 
force these demands they were butchered without 
mercy, even Luther exhorting the nobles " to kill 
them like mad dogs." Now every right demanded 
by them is freely exercised by the people of the 
United States, no one raising a question as to its 
justice and propriety, and most of them are as 
freely exercised in the progressive nations of 
Europe, in Germany as well as the rest. The things 
for which those poor peasants were slain four cen- 
turies ago are now taken unchallenged by people 
of the same class, and are guaranteed to them by 
the laws of every Christian land. Thus the kingdom 
progresses. 

Formerly laws were made to secure special priv- 
ileges to certain classes. Now the attempt of most 
nations is to make laws which will secure equal 
privileges to all classes. The attempt does not al- 
ways succeed. Hereditary power, money, and talent 
are still selfishly used to make legislation favorable 
to special classes. But there is this difference be- 
tween the past and the present: once such action 
was accepted as a matter of course, whereas now it 



PRESENT PROGRESS 289 

awakens general protest when known. Much the 
same may be said of courts of justice. It is no- 
torious that in pagan lands decisions of courts are 
bought and sold. In Christian lands as a rule 
judges are incorruptible. If there is any miscar- 
riage of justice it occurs where the jury system 
prevails and comes from the stupidity or venality 
of jurymen. But the general demand is for jus- 
tice. It is also the general expectation. People 
have confidence in their courts of law and believe 
that, with occasional exceptions, they will mete out 
justice to every man who brings his cause before 
them, whether he be rich or poor, exalted or hum- 
ble. And this is a corner-stone of every great fabric 
of civilization. 

As a rule in pagan lands scarcely any attention 
at all has ever been given to public health. The 
first principles of medicine, surgery, hygiene, and 
sanitation are hardly known. This is true of coun- 
tries like India and China, where some of the arts 
have reached a high degree of perfection. Why is 
it that in Christian lands so much attention has been 
given to these matters and such splendid success 
has been achieved ? Has it come from that general 
quickening of the human mind which the Chris- 
tian religion causes, and which has brought about 
such wonderful attainments of scientific knowl- 
edge? Or is it due to the fact that Christ healed 
the sick in large numbers and thus left an impres- 
sion of the value of health ? Probably both causes 

T 



29O IF CHRIST WERE KING 

have been operative, and others besides these two. 
Certain it is that only in Christian lands has any- 
thing like adequate attention been given to the sub- 
ject of health and the preservation of life. To an 
amazing extent in recent times Christian missions 
have become medical missions, and bodily healing 
as well as spiritual healing flows from Christian to 
pagan lands. Health is not only a blessing; it is 
also an element of that power which wins success 
and brings great things to pass. If we are learning 
how to preserve health and prolong life it is evi- 
dence that the kingdom is making progress in the 
world. 

Progress in abstinence from the use of intoxi- 
cants and narcotics has been slow. It has to be 
confessed that drunkenness is especially the vice 
of the Christian nations. But during the last cen- 
tury there has been great improvement in- this 
respect. Even fifty years ago the use of intoxicants 
as beverages was common among church-members 
and it was no disgrace for a clergyman to be drunk. 
Now most ministers of the gospel are total abstain- 
ers from intoxicating drinks, and some denomina- 
tions of Christians require total abstinence as a 
condition of church-membership. In all civilized 
countries the proportion of those who use intoxi- 
cants as beverages has been rapidly decreasing. 
This is due in part to economic conditions and con- 
siderations of hygiene, but Christian sentiment has 
also been an important factor in bringing it about. 



PRESENT PROGRESS 2gi 

Many have become total abstainers for the sake of 
their example, not being willing to put a stumbling- 
block in the way of others. But, whatever may be 
the cause of it, gain in temperance means progress 
for the kingdom. The effort of China to free itself 
from the curse of opium should be noted as a step 
in advance. 

In the matter of sports and amusements there 
has been unquestionable gain. Christians early set 
themselves against the brutal and cruel exhibitions 
of the amphitheater and the arena, in which men 
fought to the death with one another or with sav- 
age beasts and in which thousands of brave men 
were butchered to make a Roman holiday. The 
modern theater is sometimes vile and debasing, but 
it is purity itself compared with the theatrical ex- 
hibitions of the Roman Empire. Few cities in 
Christendom would tolerate the dances by women 
which are common in pagan and Mohammedan 
countries. The modern prize-fight is gentle play 
compared with the gladiatorial shows, but it is gen- 
erally prohibited among Christian people — only one 
State in our country now tolerating it. The sports 
that are gaining in popular favor are the clean, 
wholesome sports like rowing, racing, cricket, 
baseball, football, and basket-ball. Of late success- 
ful efforts have been made to prohibit gambling in 
connection with these sports. 

In no respect has the world made greater prog- 
ress than in the matter of education. The enormous 



292 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

increase of knowledge in natural science, in his- 
tory, and in other fields of investigation, and the 
invention of printing, by means of which knowledge 
is easily preserved, have widened the curricula of 
all grades of schools. In recent years much atten- 
tion has been given to methods of study and teach- 
ing. For many centuries in the schools of China 
pupils were almost entirely occupied in committing 
to memory verbatim et literatim the extensive wri- 
tings of Confucius, thus putting their minds in 
bondage to an antiquated past. With the same nar- 
row exclusiveness pupils in Mohammedan schools 
memorize the Koran. Contrast this with the sub- 
jects and methods pursued in the schools of Europe 
and America, where Christianity has quickened and 
broadened the human mind. The pagan world has 
never risen to the conception of general education. 
It has never thought it worth while to educate 
girls at all and only a few of the boys. Egypt, 
Greece, and Rome at their best believed that edu- 
cation was possible or desirable only for the chosen 
few. But Christianity holds and teaches that every 
human being is valuable and that every human 
mind should be cultivated and trained to the ut- 
most. Out of this conviction have grown the free 
public schools and the general education of the 
most advanced Christian nations. If education is 
a good thing for humanity the kingdom is making 
progress. 

It is undeniable that there are elements of power 



PRESENT PROGRESS 293 

and beauty in some of the pagan literature. For 
vigor of thought, clearness of expression, skill in 
arrangement, and artistic adornment the classics of 
Greece and Rome have rarely been surpassed. 
But their range is narrow — limited by paucity of 
knowledge — their moral tone is generally low, and 
they are in style and construction adapted only to 
the cultivated few. In range of topics, in volume 
of production, in elevation of moral tone, in power 
to impart knowledge and inspire thought, as the ex- 
pression of a life broad, rich, and free, and in 
adaptation to readers in all ranks of intellectual life, 
Christian literature is almost infinitely superior. 
Most of the great pagan nations have produced 
little of value in the way of writings. Half a dozen 
great authors in as many millenniums would be the 
most that could be credited to some of them. Great 
libraries, with their vast and varied writings on 
almost every conceivable subject, are products of 
Christian civilization. So also is the general habit 
of reading among the masses of the people. If 
good books and the habit of reading them are 
among the world's valuable assets the kingdom has 
made progress on the earth. 

The growth of humane feeling under the influ- 
ence of Christianity has been very noticeable in 
recent years. We have already given some con- 
sideration to the brutality and cruelty of pagan peo- 
ples. For a long time the religion of love and 
tenderness, though nominally adopted, made very 



294 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

little impression upon the general barbarity and sav- 
agery of Europe. There were at least two reasons 
for this failure, neither of them discreditable to 
the power of Christianity. One was the early 
paganization of the religion. The other was man's 
inability or unwillingness to recognize the social as- 
pects of Christianity. Thus for centuries stains 
of pagan cruelty marked the social, religious, and 
political life of Europe. The torture of persons 
charged with crime to induce them to confess was 
common, and thus courts of law became courts of 
injustice and barbarity. The stranger in a strange 
land was an object of suspicion and was liable to be 
killed or captured and sold into slavery. Ship- 
wrecked sailors cast upon a foreign shore received 
the same treatment. It was a common practice on 
dark and stormy nights to kindle false beacon-fires 
to lure ships ashore in order that they might be 
plundered and their crews and passengers sold- as 
slaves. Even the church persecuted and tortured 
heretics with more than barbaric cruelty in the 
name of the loving and gentle Christ. Prisons 
were generally horrible dungeons, so unsanitary that 
many of those confined in them soon died of dis- 
ease. Men and women, boys and girls, hardened 
criminals and beginners in crime, murderers and 
robbers, and those charged with petty offenses were 
often confined night and day in one common room. 
Thus every prison became a school of crime. 

Now all this is changed. Torture is no longer 



PRESENT PROGRESS 295 

tolerated in Christian lands. Strangers are treated 
with kindness and courtesy. If they have passports, 
or can prove citizenship, the power of their own 
nation is pledged to their protection from injury. 
The coasts of every Christian land are lined with 
lighthouses and life-saving stations for the safety 
of those " that go down to the sea in ships and do 
business in great waters," and there is scarcely a 
shore in the world on which a shipwrecked sailor 
would not be sure of kind treatment. While all 
branches of the church are not yet free from the 
spirit of persecution the general sentiment of Chris- 
tendom condemns it with scorn and indignation. 
The Prison Reform Movement has gone far 
toward making all prisons in Christian lands 
decent, sanitary, and as comfortable as consistency 
with the infliction of penalty will allow. Most 
Christian countries have separate prisons for the 
young, which are really reformatories, and for 
women, and the management of prisons is generally 
free from the charge of exposing the comparatively 
innocent to contamination. These are a few of the 
changes which have been brought about by the 
growth of humane feeling. That feeling is the 
product of the better understanding of Christianity 
which recent years have witnessed. These changes 
indicate the progress of the kingdom. 

There is much that is blameworthy in present 
business and political conditions; but they are bet- 
ter than in former times. The working people of 



296 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Christian lands are far better off than the same 
classes in pagan lands. They have higher wages, 
more comforts, and greater advantages. Taxes are 
light compared with those of pagan Rome or medi- 
eval Europe. If the trusts and other corporations 
are oppressive to the people and corrupting in poli- 
tics, they are not so bad as the royal monopolies 
and plundering nobility of other days. In these mat- 
ters we should note the important fact that, in very 
recent times, sins have sprung up and grown faster 
than public conscience and civil law. The preva- 
lent and fashionable crimes of our day, indirect 
crimes, crimes committed through corporations by 
trickery and deceit rather than by violence, by cor- 
rupting politicians, are not so readily detected, nor 
so strongly reprobated, nor so easily punished as 
the old style of murder, robbery, rape, and treason, 
though they are equally bad. But the public con- 
science in America at least is being enlightened and 
quickened at a rapid rate, and laws are being en- 
acted which will secure the proper punishment of 
criminals who have hitherto escaped. The capacity 
and readiness to meet and crush new forms of evil 
as they arise is a sign of the progress of the 
kingdom. 

The effect of Christianity upon war has not been 
all that Christian hearts desire, yet it is noteworthy. 
It has abolished the various forms of private war. 
Dueling, feuds, and family, tribal, and baronial 
wars are largely evils of the past. How great these 



PRESENT PROGRESS 2Q7 

evils have been every student of history knows. 
The church early set itself against these forms of 
combat. Its ministers taught and preached against 
them and thus did much to obliterate savagery and 
create better feeling. Occasionally the church 
placed her ban upon those who provoked such wars 
or were the actual aggressors. The establishment 
of " The Peace of God " which, in the tenth and 
eleventh centuries, forbade armed conflicts on cer- 
tain days did much to cultivate the general spirit 
of peace. 

It is lamentable and amazing that in the face of 
Christian teaching, common sense, and humane feel- 
ing there has been such slow progress with regard 
to the abolition of international and civil wars. 
Fear, false patriotism, the habit of distrust, the 
uncertain voice of the church, and the general opin- 
ion that war is a necessity have so far been insuper- 
able obstacles to the coming of peace. And yet 
there has been decided gain. The disposition to 
settle national differences by arbitration rather than 
by armed conflict has certainly been growing. 
War is much less frequent than in former cen- 
turies. Among people that have been strongly in- 
fluenced by Christianity there is a growing senti- 
ment against it. The number of persons who look 
upon war as an unmitigated and terrible evil grows 
larger every year. We no longer glorify it; the 
most that any one dare say about it is that it is 
a necessary evil. As William L. Stead says, " The 



298 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

collective sense of mankind is revolting against the 
armed anarchy which wastes the earnings of labor 
and diverts the intellect of mankind to the cult of 
slaughter/' Even among those who are least in- 
fluenced by Christian sentiment war is now looked 
upon as the last resort. And when it occurs every- 
thing possible is done to mitigate its horrors in the 
protection of non-combatants, in the care of the sick 
and wounded, in the kindness shown to prisoners, 
and in the prohibition of unfair and inhuman 
methods of destruction. 

The decrease of war is not the only improvement 
in international relations. One great cause of war 
in the past was the liberty which every nation felt 
to perpetrate upon another or upon its citizens any 
outrage which it dared to undertake. Now the re- 
lations of civilized countries are regulated to the 
last detail by international law, and this law is, in 
the main, the expression of wisdom, honor, and 
good feeling. It is greatly to the credit of the 
nations that they rarely violate it. The improved 
relations of the different countries to one another 
show that the kingdom progresses. 

As we said at the beginning, it is impossible to 
measure exactly or to state definitely the extent of 
that progress. The incalculable elements are most 
important of all. One of them is the growing per- 
ception of the fact that Christianity as a religious 
experience cannot be separated from morality, prac- 
tical righteousness. The ship in which Sir John 



PRESENT PROGRESS 299 

Hawkins carried slaves from Africa to the West 
Indies, and in whose hold these poor captives of 
cruelty and greed suffered hideous tortures until 
many of them died, was named Jesus. Probably no 
one saw the dreadful incongruity of using a ship 
with that sacred name for the transaction of the 
most diabolical business in which human beings 
were ever engaged. That was not the only trav- 
esty of the kind in the sixteenth century. Such a 
thing would now be impossible in any Christian 
land. It is true men and societies calling them- 
selves Christian still do wicked deeds, but a gross 
travesty like that would call forth loud and indig- 
nant cries of protest from every quarter. And this 
perception that anything cruel or unjust or false or 
unclean is utterly incongruous with the religion of 
Jesus is great gain. No contradictory idea ought 
ever to have existed in the human mind, but it 
did ; and the fact that we can throw it off indicates 
progress. 

Modern times have witnessed a similar return to 
the early ideals of Christianity with regard to per- 
sonal character. It is well known that in former 
times people called themselves Christians whose 
lives were grossly wicked, and no one seemed to be 
shocked by the terrible inconsistency. Now, in the 
better parts of Christendom, there is a strong sen- 
timent that one ought not to take that sacred name 
unless his daily conduct conforms, at least approx- 
imately, to the Christian ideal. This is a great gain ; 



300 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

all the greater because it cannot be measured by 
statistics. 

This brief sketch of what the world has gained 
under the influence of Christianity, imperfect as it 
is, shows that a good beginning has been made in 
the creation of " a new earth wherein dwelleth 
righteousness. ,, The goal " is the perfect man in a 
perfect society " ; we are yet a long distance from 
the goal, but we are nearer to it than we were when 
Jesus began preaching " the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand." 



XVI 

WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 

IF the views presented in this essay so far are 
accepted our conclusion must be that the per- 
fection of the kingdom on earth is far in the future. 
The method of growth as set forth by our Lord in 
the parables of the Mustard-seed, the Leaven, 
and the Growing Grain seems to make this clear. 
The conception of the kingdom as affecting every 
phase of human life implies that it must be of 
slow growth. It takes a long time for even divine 
grace and power to change thoroughly the charac- 
ter of individuals and communities. The stream of 
habit and custom is not quickly diverted from its 
usual channel. Evil is so deeply rooted in human 
life that it takes centuries to tear it up and prepare 
the soil to grow the good. The teaching of our 
Lord on this subject is confirmed by history. 

The opinion held by many able and earnest Chris- 
tians that our Lord may come in visible form at 
any time to set up his kingdom on the earth, and to 
perfect it at once by the exercise of his power, 
has been already stated. But as we attempt to look 
into the future it seems fitting to return to it for a 
brief discussion. Is there any real ground for such 

301 



302 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

an expectation? There are passages in the dis- 
courses of our Lord and in the writings of the 
apostles which seem to teach the doctrine. For ex- 
ample, take that saying of Christ recorded in 
Matthew 16:28: " Verily I say unto you, There be 
some of them that stand here, which shall in no 
wise taste of death, till they see the Son of man 
coming in his kingdom." What did he mean? 
The common interpretation is that he referred to 
the destruction of Jerusalem, which put an end to 
the Jewish system of worship and prepared the 
way for the rapid advance of Christ's kingdom, but 
this is not wholly satisfactory. Rationalistic inter- 
preters of the New Testament contend that Paul 
expected Christ to return and set up his kingdom 
during the apostle's lifetime, and there are many 
passages in his writings on which to base such a 
contention. But the historical outcome shuts us up 
to this dilemma: Either Paul was mistaken and, 
therefore, not inspired or his words are susceptible 
of another interpretation. We prefer the latter 
horn of the dilemma and believe it to be safe. 
Every word he writes on the subject may be made 
with fairness to refer either to the death of the 
individual believer or to an event centuries in the 
future. 

What is the meaning of the " Millennium " re- 
ferred to in Revelation 10: 5 and 20:4? It is un- 
doubtedly a prophetic description of the kingdom 
as it will appear at an advanced stage of develop- 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 303 

ment. But to take out of a symbolical book one of 
its figures and try to make it fit a clearly defined 
period in the future ages is presumptuous, to say 
the least. It is better by far to hold fast to teach- 
ing of our Lord which can be readily understood. 
There are very serious objections to the opinion 
that Christ will come visibly to set up suddenly his 
kingdom on the earth. Some of them are : 

1. It is too much like that Jewish conception of 
the kingdom which Christ repudiated and de- 
nounced. Notice some of the points of resem- 
blance. It contemplates the overwhelming destruc- 
tion of the enemies of the King. It indicates that 
for this purpose he will employ force — if not phys- 
ical force something difficult to distinguish from 
it. How else would the wicked alive at that time 
be deprived of life and banished to the prison of 
the lost? It expects a kingdom of pomp and 
splendor, not very different from the kingdoms of 
this world. This looks very much like the Jewish 
expectation of the kingdom redivivus. 

2. Such a return of Christ would bring redemp- 
tive work prematurely to an end. It does not 
seem consistent with God's great plans for the race, 
as those plans are revealed in the Scriptures and in 
history. Few of the race would be saved if he 
should come now to destroy his enemies. And this 
opinion eliminates altogether " social salvation," 
which constitutes so large a part of the kingdom 
and to which followers of Christ are just awaking. 



304 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

Indeed, hopelessness with regard to any such " sal- 
vation " by present forces and methods is an 
integral part of the opinion we are discussing. 

3. This view seems to belittle the work of the 
Holy Spirit. Christ sent the Spirit to take his place, 
to be his vicegerent, in carrying on the work of 
redeeming and transforming the world. In an- 
nouncing this remarkable change he said : " It is 
expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not 
away, the Comforter will not come unto you " (John 
16:7). Following this statement is his striking 
description of the Spirit's work in convicting men 
" of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment " (John 
16:8-11). The implication is plain that in the work 
of saving men from sin and building them up in 
holiness, the presence of the Spirit is better than 
the visible presence of Christ. The truth of this 
implication is confirmed by history. Therefore, to 
say that the kingdom waits for the second coming 
of Christ is to pervert his teaching and belittle the 
Spirit. It seems to imply that the Spirit is not 
equal to the work assigned to him. 

4. There is no evidence that Christ placed any 
confidence in this method of consummating his 
kingdom on earth. The descriptions of his second 
coming given by himself and by the apostolic 
writers represent it as being for judgment. It is 
the end of probation and of redemptive work. 
There is to be no progress of the kingdom on earth 
— at least no extensive progress, though there may 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 305 

be intensive progress — after that event. It will be 
the beginning of a perfect reign of righteousness, 
it is true, but an end of an extension of the king- 
dom. It seems hardly fair, therefore, to speak of 
it as the indispensable means for its establishment. 
These objections seem fatal to the view that the 
kingdom will be suddenly perfected by the visible 
return of Christ to the earth. 

Assuming, then, that the method of growth is 
gradual and that it is the purpose of Christ to subdue 
the whole world, how soon may we expect the 
kingdom to come ? No one can answer. All human 
calculations on the subject are certain to go astray. 
In this connection the only question we dare con- 
sider is, will the rate of progress be more rapid 
than it has been? Of this we feel assured, and 
we may give some reasons for the hope. 

1. Never, since apostolic days, has the spirit of 
evangelization been so strong and so general among 
the disciples of Christ. In the last twenty-five 
years there has been a distinct and wide-spread 
revival of the missionary zeal of those early days. 
And the flame burns brighter and spreads more 
widely as the years pass. " The evangelization of 
the world in our generation, " a motto invented by 
Dr. John R. Mott, has become the war-cry of the 
churches. Even if the work outlined in this brief 
phrase cannot be thoroughly done, it is a noble 
ideal, and its general adoption as a goal of effort 
means much to the progress of the kingdom. 
u 



306 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

The Students' Volunteer Movement, which is an 
efficient means of providing trained workers for 
mission fields, has grown to vast proportions and is 
thoroughly organized. Even more significant and 
prophetic of progress is the Laymen's Missionary 
Movement, which is becoming general among the 
evangelical churches of the English-speaking 
world. This movement is important, because it 
bids fair to solve the problem of financing mis- 
sions, which has always been serious and some- 
times disheartening. It indicates that men of wealth 
and business ability are beginning to consecrate 
their wealth to the work of the kingdom. These 
two movements engender hope that in the future 
men and money for missions will not be lacking. 

The spirit of evangelism at home is growing 
stronger. It is not confined to a few professional 
evangelists nor to ministers, but is spreading among 
the members of the churches. While yet far from 
what it ought to be, there has been, in recent years, 
a marked improvement over former times, and this 
promises well for the future. 

2. The forces for evangelization were never so 
great. There has been rapid increase in the number 
of workers who are qualified to do this kind of 
service. It is a matter on which it is impossible to 
gather statistics, but we venture the assertion that 
never before in the history of the world were there 
so many disciples engaged in the work of winning 
others to Christ. We believe that this evangeli- 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 307 

zing army has doubled in the last fifty years. There 
has been a still greater increase in the wealth of 
the churches. A considerable share of the prop- 
erty of the world is now in the hands of Chris- 
tians. Let this be consecrated to the work of the 
kingdom and it will become a mighty agency for 
evangelization. Modern facilities for travel greatly 
increase the efficiency of missions. This not only 
affects the transmission of missionaries to distant 
fields, but also aids their movements on those fields. 
Asia and Africa are being threaded with railroads. 
Travel, commerce, the growth of a fraternal spirit 
among the nations, the recognized superiority of 
Christian civilization, and the manifestly philan- 
thropic purpose of missionaries have made the peo- 
ple of pagan lands generally accessible to the gos- 
pel. Medical missions have done much to win 
favor for Christianity and to open hearts to the 
saving grace of God. The translation of the Scrip- 
tures, or parts of them, into more than four hun- 
dred languages or dialects, and their wide distribu- 
tion over the earth, afford a good basis for the 
future growth of the kingdom. 

3. Our hope of notable progress in the immediate 
future is quickened by reports of what native Chris- 
tians are doing in the way of evangelization on their 
own fields. In the past not enough reliance has 
been placed on this source of power. Now leaders 
of missionary work are awaking to its importance. 
They are beginning to realize that great pagan 



308 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

nations like China, India, and Japan can never be 
thoroughly evangelized by foreign missionaries. 
They can win a few converts, but this few must 
win the multitudes. And, when rightly instructed, 
they are showing admirable willingness and abil- 
ity to do the work. Note two examples among 
many: 

In Manchuria, " of thirty thousand converts baptized 
in twenty years that veteran missionary, Dr. John Ross, 
declares that only about one hundred were baptized as 
the direct result of the preaching of the missionaries; 
the rest — twenty-nine thousand nine hundred — were brought 
into the Christian church through the influence and work 
of the native Christians." "A remarkable form of col- 
lection has sprung up in the Korean churches — a collec- 
tion of ' days of service.' In the offertory the worshiper 
deposits not money, but a pledge of the number of days 
of personal service he will give to the cause of Christ 
in the coming year. At one service a collection was taken 
of sixty-seven thousand days of personal evangelizing 
work." * 

We might well introduce such a collection into 
the churches of Western nations. At any rate, work 
of that sort is the only hope of quickly and thor- 
oughly evangelizing the great pagan nations. Of 
course, new converts need a certain amount of 
training for the work, but they should not be for- 
ever learning and never doing after the fashion 
which has been prevalent in the West. 

JMacLean, "Can the World be Won for Christ?" p. 125. 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 309 

These are grounds for hope that the extensive 
growth of the kingdom will be rapid in the imme- 
diate future. The number of professed disciples 
will no doubt be multiplied many times in the pres- 
ent century. At its close we confidently expect 
that every nation on the globe will be a Christian 
nation in the sense that Christianity will be its 
dominating religion. 

Can we entertain such a hope with regard to the 
intensive growth? Hardly. From the nature of 
the case progress of this kind is much slower. 
The history of the world shows that though other 
religions are abandoned so that a nation is nom- 
inally Christian, the real disciples of Christ may 
constitute only a small minority of the whole peo- 
ple. In that situation the evil, antichristian senti- 
ments, habits, customs, laws, and institutions are 
long preserved by the influence of the majority 
against the assaults of the Christian minority. Far 
too often the social, commercial, and political life 
of nominal Christians is dominated by worldly sen- 
timent. Even loyal Christians grow very slowly 
into the adoption and practice of Christian ideas. 
They are hindered by two forces — the evil that 
remains in their own nature and the influence of 
the opinions and habits of the world about them. 

Nevertheless we believe that there are signs of 
more rapid progress in the immediate future than 
the world has yet witnessed. 

1. Political movements of recent times indicate 



3IO IF CHRIST WERE KING 

a rapid extension of democratic ideas and princi- 
ples. Nations which have long been under the 
tyrannical control of absolute monarchs are de- 
manding and securing constitutional governments. 
Russia, Turkey, Persia, Japan, and China are feel- 
ing the thrill and throb of this aspiration for po- 
litical liberty. There is unrest in most of the 
nations of Europe. In some cases it means effort 
to throw off the burden of a tyrannical church ; 
in other cases it is a demand for greater political 
and social liberty. The growth of democracy can- 
not be stayed. And while the demand for popular 
government sometimes outruns the ability for it, 
the whole movement indicates that the ideas of 
Christ concerning the equal rights of man are 
finding lodgment in human minds and are bearing 
fruit. 

2. Another auspicious sign auguring well for the 
future is the growth of socialism. There are many 
good people, some of them able and thoughtful, 
who " view with alarm " the progress of this move- 
ment. They believe that the ideas of Socialists 
tend to overthrow and destroy all that is solid and 
valuable in our social fabric. That is true of the 
ideas of some Socialists, but we ought to discrim- 
inate between fanatical destroyers and constructive 
philanthropists. In its best and most generally ac- 
cepted sense socialism means any rational and prac- 
ticable effort for the improvement of human so- 
ciety. It is the practical application of the science 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 3II 

of sociology. This has come to be the subject 
occupying the thoughts of the best men and women 
more than any other. The attention given to so- 
cial improvement during the last quarter of a cen- 
tury is unparalleled in human history. Thousands 
of men and women in every Christian land are 
devoting their lives to it. Political and industrial 
socialism, which are generally understood by the 
term, are coming to the front in every progressive 
nation. And while socialism has some crudities 
which must be refined, some deformities which 
will have to be amputated, and an element of 
chaos which needs organization, the general move- 
ment shows that the leaven of Christianity is work- 
ing in human lives and that great and admirable 
improvements in social conditions may be soon 
expected. 

3. Closely akin to this — in fact, so closely that 
at the first glance it seems like the same topic — is 
the emphasis which, in recent years, has been 
placed on the social aspects of Christianity. The 
past placed the emphasis on work for the individ- 
ual ; the tendency the other way is now very strong. 
Here is a danger. We must not forget that the 
kingdom begins in the individual soul, and that 
men enter it one by one, not in masses. We must 
not forget that a new man is the first necessity and 
that the new man is made not by an improved 
environment, but by the life of God in his soul. 
If this is remembered and duly considered, the 



312 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

present emphasis upon the social aspects of Chris- 
tianity contains great promise for the future. It 
is in part at least the source of the demand for 
improvement in social and political conditions. It 
fits in with the great movement of the age. If the 
churches hear and heed the call to make their re- 
ligion social, they will be more nearly in line with 
human progress than they ever have been in the 
past. 

In other days, perhaps, nothing has hindered 
the progress of the kingdom so much as the deaf- 
ness of church officials to the call for social service. 
Every reformer has complained bitterly of this in- 
difference and hardness. It is one of the signs of 
promise for the future that ministers of Christ 
are growing loyal and brave. It is even a better 
sign that when their hearts are not with humanity, 
public sentiment pushes them into a kind of sym- 
pathy with social progress. The world has less 
and less use for cowards and time-servers in the 
ministry. The redemption of the ministry from 
selfish ambition, from bondage to tradition, from 
that narrowness which limits effort to the advance- 
ment of one's own denomination, and from sub- 
serviency to the money-power means much to the 
future of the kingdom. There are signs that min- 
isters are becoming men of vision, men who fol- 
low Christ, men who are free, brave, and strong, 
warriors for the kingdom and prophets of God. 

4. The demand for righteousness in business and 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 313 

politics is another sign full of promise. In no 
country in the world has government been so cor- 
rupted by the money-power as in the United States. 
The rapid development of our vast natural re- 
sources and the possibility of quickly amassing 
great fortunes have made us a nation of greedy 
money-seekers. The giants of finance, both singly 
and in combination, have been robbers of the pub- 
lic and have taken from the people lands, mines, 
forest, water-power, franchises, and other means 
of gaining wealth. Moreover they have not been 
content to amass fortunes lawfully, but have been 
persistent violators of laws intended to protect the 
rights of the people. That they might do this with 
impunity they have paid enormous fees to great 
lawyers and have bribed judges and executives. 
They have also felt the need of laws granting them 
special privileges, and to secure such laws have 
bribed legislatures and city councils. Thus they 
have used the power of vast wealth to hinder the 
progress of the kingdom. 

But in the field of politics prophets of right- 
eousness have arisen who are denouncing the pur- 
poses and methods of these robbers, and the peo- 
ple listen to them with ready ears and willing 
hearts. They are demanding with an unmista- 
kable voice that laws be enacted and enforced which 
shall punish all lawbreakers and bribe-takers and 
put an end to special privileges. In former times 
similar robberies under kings and governors went 



3H 



IF CHRIST WERE KING 



on and no one dared to protest or had the power 
to make his protest good if he had dared. But 
now the people are speaking and their word will 
not be in vain. Commercial integrity and polit- 
ical purity will soon be the standards to which 
all men must conform or be branded as crim- 
inals. There was never so good a prospect that 
this sentiment and laws embodying it would be- 
come world-wide. It is a good sign for the com- 
ing of the kingdom of heaven on earth. 

5. Another hopeful sign is the growing disposi- 
tion of the churches to return to their true work 
in building up the kingdom. The habit of consid- 
ering the church as an end resulted in great loss 
of effort. Now it is generally understood, at least 
among evangelical Christians, that the church is a 
means to an end, and that the end to be kept in 
view is the establishment of the kingdom. This is 
great gain and full of promise for the future, 
because it insures the right direction of Christian 
effort. 

Churches and their leaders are not, as in former 
times, wasting their efforts on unimportant matters. 
They are growing impatient of controversies about 
doctrines that are not vital and over forms and 
ceremonies whose observance our Lord has not 
commanded. Of course, recognition of the king- 
ship of Jesus implies that ordinances which he 
commanded will be observed and observed as he 
commanded them, but beyond that all controversy 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 315 

on such matters is diversion of effort and waste of 
energy. 

There is a great desire for unity among the 
severed denominations. Christian men are coming 
to feel that unity of effort is absolutely essential to 
loyalty to Christ. In the great International Mis- 
sionary Convention at Edinburgh, in 19 10, this 
call for unity was the predominating note. The 
church of Christ is seeing more clearly than ever 
before that its division into warring fragments 
is hindering the progress of the kingdom. There 
ought never to have been any difficulty about see- 
ing it, but even disciples of Christ sometimes have 
very narrow vision or are totally blind to essential 
principles. Their eyes have been opened to the 
evils of sectarian divisions mainly by the way in 
which those divisions have hindered the work of 
the kingdom on the foreign field. Hitherto loyalty 
to Christ and love for their brethren have not 
been sufficient to bring them together; perhaps 
compassion for a lost world and zeal for the king- 
dom added to these motives will accomplish the 
desired result. At any rate, the longing for unity 
is a hopeful sign. It promises that the future will 
see the abandonment of the methods of guerilla 
warfare and the hosts of the great King marching 
with united front for the conquest of the world. 
This would make an immeasurable difference with 
both the extensive and intensive growth of the 
kingdom. A united Christendom would soon 



3l6 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

evangelize the non-Christian millions. The power 
of Christianity for the improvement of social, in- 
dustrial, and political conditions is far from being 
as effective as it might be if the churches were 
united in their efforts to this end. 

6. Another hopeful sign is the growing move- 
ment to train Christian workers. Formerly all 
kinds of work in the service of the King, except 
the giving of money, was left to the ordained min- 
istry. Gradually there has grown up in the Chris- 
tian world a conviction that every disciple should 
be a worker. As a result laymen, and laywomen 
in yet greater numbers, have engaged in many 
forms of service, such as teaching in Bible-schools, 
witnessing for Christ in social religious meetings, 
conducting missions, personal work to turn men 
and women to Christ, organized effort to save boys 
and girls from a bad life, and social reforms. In 
the prosecution of these various forms of work it 
has been discovered that something more than will- 
ingness to do is essential to success. Training for 
service is just as important as a willing spirit. 
This discovery has led to the establishment of many 
schools for the training of Christian workers. 
Such schools will greatly increase in efficiency and 
number in the near future. It may be that the time 
is not far distant when every church will become 
such a school and every convert to Christ will im- 
mediately put himself under instruction and dis- 
cipline in preparation for effective Christian service. 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 2> l 7 

Whatever form it may take in the future, this 
movement is full of promise for the progress of the 
kingdom. 

7. Another hopeful sign is the increased conse- 
cration of wealth. The subjects of the King have 
no great reason to congratulate themselves on their 
liberality to his cause. We still spend far more 
on personal luxuries than we give to Christ. Nom- 
inally Christian nations pay more for battleships 
than they are willing to spend for all means of 
promoting the kingdom. Nevertheless there is evi- 
dent gain. There is gain both in Christian senti- 
ment regarding the right use of wealth and in actual 
giving. In the minds of all well-disposed people 
every day the conviction grows stronger that Christ 
should control the wealth of the world. The money 
given every year for the support of home churches, 
for missions, for Christian education, for libraries, 
for various forms of charity, and for reform work 
amounts in the aggregate to thousands of millions. 
There is every evidence that this will increase, 
that the sentiment will grow, and that gifts will 
multiply. No human mind can imagine what the 
consecration of all the wealth now in the hands 
of professed Christians would mean to the king- 
dom. We may not hope for that in the near 
future, but we may hope for an approximation to it, 
and when it comes we shall see rapid progress in 
every other respect. 

8. Another sign of progress is the growing dom- 



318 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

inance of the nominally Christian nations. They 
are the rich, progressive, conquering peoples. The 
superiority of Christian civilization is very gener- 
ally recognized. Other nations are copying our 
industrial arts, our methods of education, our laws, 
our jurisprudence, and are translating our litera- 
ture into their own tongues. We are conquering 
by these peaceful means where once we conquered 
by force of arms. 

There is another way in which the future pros- 
pects of the kingdom are brightened. Christian 
judgment may not approve the occupation of India 
by the forces of Great Britain; but no one can 
doubt that British influence in India has contrib- 
uted to the founding of the kingdom of heaven 
in that great country. We may have the same doubt 
about the righteousness of the partition of Africa 
and the distribution of its parts among the nations 
of Europe, but the ideas, the laws, the arts, the 
customs, and the manners of Europe are better 
than those of Africa, and they are finding their way 
into that dark continent by means of this occupa- 
tion. In the same way the United States is intro- 
ducing Christian civilization to the millions of peo- 
ple in the Philippine Islands. 

The ideal method — the truly Christian method 
— would be for the gospel of salvation and the 
doctrines of Christianity to be taken to these peo- 
ples, allowing them at the same time to enjoy free 
civil government and to build up a civilization of 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 319 

their own, but the method actually employed is 
divinely overruled to the same end. The motive 
behind the occupation of foreign territory by Chris- 
tian nations is the promotion of commerce, but 
the valuable and important result is the spread of 
Christian civilization. In these two ways the 
dominating power of Christian nations hastens the 
growth of the kingdom and brightens the prospects 
of its future in the world. 

9. As a return for this social, political, and com- 
mercial influence we of the older Christian nations 
will receive great benefits from those which are 
now being Christianized. Our Christianity in its 
essential life and in many of its forms has gone 
far from the standards of Christ and the apostles. 
Much that passes for Christianity among us would 
have been regarded as Judaism, paganism, or world- 
liness among disciples of New Testament times. 
But, as a rule, the Christianity we take to pagan 
peoples is that of the New Testament; at least it 
is nearer to the original standard than that which 
we practise. Thus a better type of Christianity 
is being created among the converts on foreign 
fields. Their faith, simplicity, courage, self-sacri- 
fice, liberality, and missionary zeal put us to shame. 
And they are impatient of some of the forms which 
have attached themselves to Christianity like bar- 
nacles to a ship. 

This better type of Christianity which is develop- 
ing on foreign shores cannot but have a salutary 



320 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

effect on us. It may cure us of some of the con- 
ceit we have cherished in our own superiority. It 
will drive us back to the Christianity of the New 
Testament. It will help to free us from fool- 
ish superstitions and hindering traditions. The 
churches of the Occident will be reformed by their 
own children in the Orient. A careful observer 
who knows the history of the last half-century can- 
not have failed to note changes already wrought 
by this influence. We may confidently expect even 
greater and better results from the same causes 
in the future. 

On the whole the outlook is hopeful. It will be 
a long time before the ideas of Jesus will find 
world-wide acceptance and appear in the senti- 
ments, the laws, and the common life of every peo- 
ple. But we may look with hopeful eyes for rapid 
gains in the near future. There is a profound 
sense in which everything depends upon the pres- 
ence and power of the Holy Spirit. Never before 
in the history of the world have there been so many 
people as there are now who recognize our de- 
pendence on him and who are praying for a great 
outpouring of the Spirit on churches, pastors, and 
missionaries. We say this in the face of a general 
complaint that the habit of prayer among Chris- 
tian people is declining. There may be ground for 
the charge; it is impossible to estimate the vol- 
ume of prayer; but our contention is concerning 
the direction of prayer. 



WHAT OF THE FUTURE? 321 

Half a century ago comparatively little was said 
or written about the work of the Holy Spirit and not 
many prayed for the manifestations of his power. 
But the work of men like A. J. Gordon, D. L. 
Moody, A. T. Pierson, and R. A. Torrey brought 
forcibly to the minds of Christians throughout the 
English-speaking world the fact of our dependence 
on the Spirit and of the need and importance of 
praying for him. This awakening caused a great 
change in the direction of our prayers, and to-day 
thousands are praying for the gift of the Spirit as 
a personal experience and for a great outpouring 
of the Spirit on the Christian world. Here is the 
key to the whole problem of the future progress 
of the kingdom. The power is of God and the 
power is given in answer to prayer. The power is 
exercised through the Holy Spirit in us, and our 
Lord taught us to pray for the Spirit. If it be true, 
as we believe, that the present generation of Chris- 
tians is more given to that kind of prayer than 
were our ancestors, it is an indication that the prog- 
ress of the kingdom will be more rapid in the future 
than it has been in the past. 

It is a very significant fact that our Lord taught 
us to pray, " Thy kingdom come, thy will be done 
on earth as it is in heaven." It suggests fruitful 
lines of thought which might be followed with 
great advantage. If God was so anxious to have 
the kingdom come that he was willing to give his 
only begotten Son to sufifer and die for its estab- 



322 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

lishment, why should we pray for it? Because it 
can come only when human wills are in harmony 
with the divine purpose, and when we offer sin- 
cerely that prayer we must be in harmony with 
our Father who is in heaven. If we are to work 
with all our might for the perfection of the king- 
dom on earth why should we pray for it? Are 
we not in danger of stopping with prayer and of 
thinking we have done our duty when we pray 
" Thy kingdom come " ? And is not temptation 
to that kind of shirking specially strong when we 
perceive most clearly that the power is of God 
and that in ourselves we can do nothing? But we 
are taught to pray " Thy kingdom come," because 
we cannot say it sincerely unless we are doing all 
in our power to bring it. To repeat the prayer 
formally, heedlessly, or flippantly, with little 
thought of its meaning and no sense of the obliga- 
tion it imposes on us is shameful mockery of our 
most gracious God. It is quite certain that the 
future prospects of the kingdom depend in large 
measure upon the way in which the subjects of the 
King offer this prayer. It seems appropriate, there- 
fore, that we should close this essay with an attempt 
to show its scope and meaning. 



XVII 

THY KINGDOM COME 

THY kingdom come," O Lord, in us. O 
Christ, we pray thee, be enthroned at the 
center of our being. May our wills be in complete 
and constant subjection to thy will. We confess, 
O Lord, with humility and shame, that we have 
not always been obedient to thee, our King. Selfish- 
ness and self-will frequently dominate us. May 
thy infinite love, thy shadowless wisdom, thy tire- 
less patience, and thy mighty power overwhelm 
and subdue us and make us thy willing subjects. 
May all our choices be such as thou wouldst make 
for us. Thou didst give thyself to us, O Lord, 
that thou mightest " redeem us from all iniquity 
and purify unto thyself a people for thine own pos- 
session." Come, we beseech thee, and take posses- 
sion of the property which thou hast purchased and 
enable us not to dispute thy right. Enter our souls 
and " reign without a rival there." 

We desire, O Lord, that thy rule over us shall be 
complete. But we are conscious and we confess 
that there are whole provinces of our nature which 
thou hast not yet subdued. We own that in us 
are desires, appetites, passions, impulses, dispo- 

323 



324 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

sitions, ambitions, and imaginings which are not 
the fruits of thy life in us. We pray thee to leave 
no part of our nature in rebellion. Abide in our 
souls, O Lord, " casting down imaginations, and 
every high thing that is exalted against the knowl- 
edge of God, and bringing every thought into cap- 
tivity to the obedience of " thyself. We know that 
thy reign is best ; we know that we suffer loss from 
lack of entire subjection; we know that rest, peace, 
joy, and gladness follow thy conquests; but we are 
not capable of making complete surrender to thee. 
Subdue us, Lord, by such means as are in thy 
power and we will try to submit. 

We desire to be efficient servants of thine, O 
Lord, but we are weakened by sin as a nature 
and sin as a habit. The power to do good service 
must come from thee. We have found from sad 
experience that thy word " without me ye can do 
nothing " was a true word. But thou art such a 
great and lovely king, so worthy of praise and 
honor and dominion, that our hearts burn within us 
to do thee great service. May we bring thee what 
little we have and place it at thy disposal. If it 
pleases thee to multiply it as thou didst the loaves 
and fishes, we shall rejoice and be grateful. May 
we come into full sympathy with thee in all thy 
plans and purposes concerning us and the world. 

" Thy kingdom come " in every department of 
our life. May we recognize thy sovereignty in 
every line of activity possible to us. May all our 



THY KINGDOM COME 325 

outgoings be for blessings because thou hast 
prompted them. Enable us, we beseech thee, to 
use our time, strength, talent, money, and personal 
influence according to thy will. Save us from giv- 
ing aid and comfort to the enemy. Grant that 
we may be loyal subjects of thy kingdom and brave 
soldiers in thy army. May nothing daunt us nor 
make us afraid while we follow thee. May we 
rejoice to suffer with thee for the sake of thy 
kingdom. May we not shrink from any cross 
which we must bear for thy sake. But, O Lord, 
be thou compassionate toward us, for we are dim of 
sight and faint of heart and feeble in will, and we 
shall follow thee with faltering steps unless thou 
dost cheer us by thy loving voice and comfort us 
by thy shining presence and sustain us by thy strong 
hand. We beseech thee, therefore, to give us in 
large measure that grace by which " we are more 
than conquerors " and by which we may be good 
subjects of our King. 

" Thy kingdom come " in families and homes. 
We pray that public sentiment in every land con- 
cerning the marriage institution may reflect thy 
law. Grant, O Lord, that husbands and wives 
may be loyal to each other, faithful to their mar- 
riage vow, loving and kind, patient and forbear- 
ing, and live together in the spirit of self-sacrifice 
and mutual service. We pray that those about to 
marry may do it seriously, discreetly, and with no 
thought that the relation thus formed can be sev- 






326 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

ered except by death. May the bearing and rear- 
ing of children be recognized as a Christian duty, 
and may people of character, culture, and wealth 
be the first to recognize it. May special grace, 
Lord, be given to parents. Enable them, we be- 
seech thee, to bring up their children " in the nur- 
ture and admonition of the Lord/' May the at- 
mosphere of every home be so sweet, so gracious, 
so kindly, so free from worldliness; may the ex- 
ample of parents be so completely Christian; may 
their instruction be so faithful that all children 
will love thee from infancy and know thee as Mas- 
ter from their first choice. Grant that brothers 
and sisters of every household may love one 
another and be kind and courteous and helpful. 
Grant that they may honor their parents and be 
grateful for all the love and care and toil and 
sacrifice which have been so freely given them. 

We thank thee, O Christ, for the millions of 
Christian homes now in the world. We know they 
are fruits of thy redemptive and transforming 
work. For these places of peace and safety, of 
comfort and rest, of love and light we give thee 
the praise of grateful hearts. May they be greatly 
multiplied in the earth. We thank thee for what 
thou hast done for women and pray that this work 
may steadily widen. Grant that woman every- 
where may have the honor, the freedom, and the 
opportunities which belong to her as a human 
being and an immortal soul made in the image of 



THY KINGDOM COME 327 

God. We pray for the children. May they be 
protected from the greed and cruelty of unworthy 
parents and mercenary employers, from the con- 
taminating influences of the wicked, and from all 
those who would destroy them for gain. We be- 
lieve that thou dost love little children, O Lord, 
and dost look with tender compassion upon the 
millions who to-day are suffering in body and 
being ruined in character. Put forth thy power, 
we beseech thee, to save the children of the down- 
trodden, the ignorant, and the evil, that their feet 
may be turned early into paths of righteousness, 
that their tender young hearts may know the joy 
of serving thee, and that their plastic natures may 
be molded according to the pattern which thou hast 
furnished. 

O Lord, may thy law prevail and thy presence 
be felt in every household on the globe. May the 
incense of daily prayer go up to heaven and may 
such blessings come down from heaven that every 
family shall be able to illustrate in its life the true 
nature of the kingdom of purity and love and 
peace which thou wilt establish among men. 

" Thy kingdom come " in our churches. May 
Christ be recognized and acknowledged as the Head 
of every church. May we who constitute the 
church realize that we are members of his body, 
representing his life and doing his work in the 
world. Grant, O Lord, that the ministers of the 
churches may be humble followers of their Master, 



328 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

obedient to his will, filled with the Holy Spirit, 
and servants of the people. May they be men of 
vision, seeing the things that Christ saw and think- 
ing his thoughts after him. May they understand 
his plans for the world and adopt them as their 
own. May the message they deliver always be 
his message. May they have his heart of compas- 
sion for the weak and sinful and give their lives 
to the restoration of them who are out of the way. 
Give to them, O Lord, loyalty to ideals, courage 
in the face of hostility, and steadfastness in build- 
ing up the kingdom of righteousness in the world. 
Save them from effeminacy, love of ease, desire 
for applause, and personal ambition. Make them 
willing to suffer with Christ for his cause and to 
realize that it is enough for the servant to be as 
his Lord. Reproduce thyself, O Lord, in all thy 
ministers, that they may be true servants of the 
churches and apostles of salvation to them that 
are without. 

May the members of the churches do the will 
of Christ in all things. Fill their hearts with love 
for one another. Enable them, we beseech thee, 
to be " tender, compassionate, forgiving one an- 
other, even as thou, for Christ's sake, hast forgiven 
us." May their love for one another be manifest 
in the services which they render. May their con- 
stant endeavor be to help one another in the divine 
life: to restore the erring, to comi *t the troubled, 
to cheer the despondent, to strengthen the weak, 



THY KINGDOM COME 329 

to give light to them that are in darkness, and to 
lift up them that are fallen. Grant, O Lord, that 
their life among themselves may show forth and 
illustrate the nature of the kingdom of heaven on 
earth. 

May the churches in their organic capacity realize 
their true relation to thy kingdom. May they 
stand always for righteousness. Give them moral 
insight and strength, we beseech thee, to rebuke 
iniquity in their own members and to give office 
and honor only to the best. Bestow upon them 
loyalty and courage to sustain pastors who preach 
the word as thou hast bidden them. Give them 
grace, O Lord, to fulfil their mission as kingdom- 
builders. May they give themselves to the work 
to which thou didst give thyself. May they plan 
large things for thee and support them with gen- 
erous gifts of money, time, and strength. May they 
go into all the world and disciple all the nations. 
In their teaching may they be always loyal to the 
word. May every church be a light in the com- 
munity in which it is placed. May it be a life- 
saving station to rescue the lost. May it have 
power to elevate and purify the moral sentiments of 
all the people who know T its life and works. May 
no good cause fail to have its sympathy and sup- 
port. Above all, we ask that the churches, in all 
their affairs, may submit to the presidency and 
direction of tbtoHoly Spirit. May the living mem- 
bers be temples of God and the life of God be mani- 



330 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

fest in them. May every action of every church 
be an expression of thy will because thou hast in- 
spired it. May thy presence in the churches make 
them glorious with the splendor of heaven. 

" Thy kingdom come " in social life. May the 
law of love control all human beings in their rela- 
tions one with another. May we who profess to 
be the disciples of Christ carry our religion into 
our social life. Deliver us, we pray thee, from 
pride, from contempt for others, from vanity and 
vain display, from frivolity, from foolish extrav- 
agance, from lust and vice, and from the love of 
wasteful and degrading amusements. 

Enable us, O Lord, to value man as man, re- 
gardless of position or possessions. May we treat 
others as Jesus treated them, showing greatest 
kindness to those who have greatest need. In our 
associations with the rich may we forget their 
money. In our associations with the poor may we 
forget their poverty. May the law of service gov- 
ern all our desires. May we not expect others to 
do for us, but may we gladly do for them. May 
we not despise any human being on account of 
color or any difference of habits or customs. May 
our brotherhood be wide enough to take in all our 
brothers. 

Grant, O Lord, that in our social life we may 
use our tongues with kindness. May we not slan- 
der or malign our neighbors ; may detraction cease 
to be a habit with us ; may we not poison the lives 



THY KINGDOM COME 33I 

of our friends with words of needless censure or 
by repeating evil reports. May nothing proceed 
out of our mouths that will weaken or contaminate 
another. May our speech be helpful and edifying. 
May we learn to talk wisely and graciously of the 
things of the kingdom. May we consecrate our 
tongues to the service of our King and may our 
hearts contain an abundance of grace and love out 
of which our mouths can speak. 

Grant, O Lord, that the social life of our nation 
may be purified. May those who associate with 
one another only for worldly pleasure or degrading 
vice rise to higher things. Save us as a people from 
going mad over sports and amusements. " Thy 
kingdom come " in our recreations. May Christ 
reign over our social pleasures. May gambling, 
drunkenness, lewdness, profanity, and whatever will 
" hurt and destroy " be put far away from us. 
May all our amusements be so cleansed and 
uplifted that they will not injure those who 
engage in them nor those who witness them. May 
they be so transformed that they will glorify thy 
name in building up the kingdom of heaven on 
earth. We know that we are asking for much, O 
Lord, but thine is the power and thine shall be the 
glory. Is anything too hard for thee, Lord? We 
beseech thee to put forth thy power to save our 
nation from its social sins. 

What we ask for ourselves, O Lord, we ask 
for all the peoples that on the earth do dwell. 



332 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

We pray that thy kingdom may come in the social 
life of all the nations. May the systems of caste 
which the pride and arrogance of men have de- 
vised and which are maintained with cruel oppres- 
sion be cast away and sunk in the depths of the 
sea. O thou who art the God of grace and com- 
passion, so move upon the hearts of those who 
make and maintain these systems that they will 
love their fellow-men and establish equality and 
fraternity. May they learn that thou art the Father 
of all and that all men are brothers. We know 
that thou hast compassion upon the weak and de- 
spised. Deliver them, O Lord, from their hard 
and cruel lot. Enable those who cringe and crawl 
before the powerful and haughty to rise and walk 
erect with level eyes and the light of heaven upon 
their brows. We beseech thee, O Lord, that every 
man and woman in the world may have the best 
social privileges, the best advantages for self-de- 
velopment, and the best opportunities for service 
which they can use. 

" Thy kingdom come " in the business world. 
May all men learn that justice and love should pre- 
vail in production and trade and commerce. May 
all men and women become honest in business, 
dealing fairly with others. Grant that they may 
see that their business relations are opportunities 
to minister to their fellow-men. May we have the 
mind of Christ and realize that manhood is before 
money ; that character is more precious than coin ; 



THY KINGDOM COME 333 

that wealth produced by the destruction or the 
marring of souls is wicked waste for which God 
will call us to account. Teach us, O Holy Spirit, 
to value things that are valuable and to hold cheap 
that which perishes. Repeat, we beseech thee, O 
Christ, thy lessons till we learn them, that men 
and women are the jewels of thy kingdom and that 
thou wilt bring into judgment him who offers them 
on the altar of Mammon. May all those who en- 
gage in business get the Christian point of view. 
Enable them to see, O Lord, that the good of hu- 
manity is of first importance and that the increase 
of wealth should minister to human welfare. And 
when they see, make them, we pray thee, obedient 
" unto the heavenly vision." 

" Thy kingdom come " in mills, in factories, in 
mines, on farms, and in all places where men and 
women toil in production. May those who employ 
others pay them fair wages and give full measure 
of love and kindness. May they remember that 
those they employ are not simply hands, but souls. 
May they realize that power to use implies respon- 
sibility to use aright. Grant, Lord, that those who 
toil may give honest work and something more. 
May they love their employers and serve them with 
interest. We beseech thee that there may be love 
and harmony between labor and capital. Thou 
knowest, O Lord, how bitter their conflict has 
been. Thou knowest all the waste and cruelty and 
injustice which accompany this strife. We pray 



334 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

thee to bring it to an end. May both sides learn 
from thee the better way. 

We offer special prayer, O Lord, for those who 
are oppressed in their labor and who drink the 
bitter dregs of poverty. We pray for the women 
and children who are forced to toil beyond their 
strength and to the injury of their health in mines 
and factories and stores and sweat-shops. Hear, 
we entreat thee, the cry of wronged and stunted 
children and overburdened women. Deliver them 
from the hard conditions imposed on them by cruel 
greed. May personal character and social condi- 
tions be so changed that all the weak and poverty- 
stricken and oppressed may come into a full and 
free life. 

We pray that the production of articles whose 
use injures humanity may cease. May men no 
longer make for the sake of money that which 
unmakes their fellow-men. Quicken their con- 
sciences, O Lord, until they can see that this may 
be murder for gain. And may the laws of every 
land prohibit the infliction of that wrong upon 
others which consists in pandering to their base 
appetites and passions. 

May all who toil, whether with head or hands, 
learn to do their work " as unto the Lord." En- 
able them, we entreat thee, to see in work faith- 
fully done a means of moral discipline for them- 
selves and an instrument of service to mankind. 
Save us all from laziness and show us the dignity 



THY KINGDOM COME 335 

and value of labor. Grant, Lord, that all classes 
of idlers, those who are idle from choice and those 
who suffer from enforced idleness, may find useful 
work. May the wasters in all lands become pro- 
ducers of those things which add to the comfort 
of humanity. Deliver them, we pray thee, from 
the ignoble spirit which permits them to live on 
the products of other people's labor, and may they 
work for their own support or for the common 
good. 

" Thy kingdom come " in the world of com- 
merce and transportation. We pray for the rail- 
roads, those great instruments of material prog- 
ress and human oppression. Thou knowest, O 
Lord, all the iniquities of their managers: their 
violation of thy laws, their disregard of the rights 
of the people, and their cruelty to their employees. 
Grant, Lord, that railroads may be managed in 
the interests of the people. In thine own time, if 
it seem good to thee, may they become the prop- 
erty of the people. May they cease to rob men of 
their Sabbath privileges. We pray for the em- 
ployees, that, in spite of all the things against them, 
they may be saved from ungodliness and may be 
able to care for their souls. 

We pray that the commerce which uses ships 
may be Christianized. May the sailors of every 
nation and tribe have the gospel preached to them 
and every ship afloat become a bethel. May com- 
merce be an agent in civilization and a means for 



336 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

the increase of human comforts. May men be 
moved to engage in it for worthy purposes and not 
alone by greed for gain. May those from Chris- 
tian lands who trade with pagan peoples feel their 
responsibility as representatives of Christianity and 
so conduct themselves and so carry on their busi- 
ness as to promote the extension of Christ's king- 
dom. Thou alone, O Lord, art able to change the 
hearts of men and thou canst transform cruel and 
greedy traders into missionaries of Jesus. 

We pray, O Lord, that labor for gain on the 
Sabbath may cease. May greedy corporations 
which force men to work when they should be rest- 
ing their bodies and caring for their souls learn the 
iniquity of making Mammon their god. Deliver 
them, O Lord, and deliver us all from the terrible 
delusion that success in business is the supreme 
law. May we return to thee and recognize thy 
claims. Put forth thy power in thine own way, O 
Lord, till the money worshipers shall know that 
thou art God. We pray for the people who, for 
their own gain or convenience or pleasure, demand 
beyond reason or need the services of others on 
the Lord's Day. May they remember thy com- 
mand; may they consider humanity's need of a 
Sabbath, and may they learn to practise self-denial 
for the good of others. We pray for those who are 
thus forced to labor. We pray that, in thine own 
way, thou wilt deliver them. Reveal to them, O 
Lord, thy will. If thou dost demand that thy 



THY KINGDOM COME 337 

people shall not engage in occupations which involve 
Sunday work, grant to them courage and steadfast- 
ness in refusing. Enable them to trust in thee and 
do right. And we pray that all who are thus op- 
pressed may unite to secure laws for their own 
protection. Arise in thy might, O Lord, to de- 
throne Mammon, who has usurped thy sov- 
ereignty in this nation, and do thou reign over us. 

We pray for the toilers in all lands. May in- 
dustry, thrift, and prosperity increase in those lands 
whose people are suffering from poverty. All over 
the world may men learn how to use aright the 
natural resources thou hast given and to provide for 
the comfort of themselves and those dependent upon 
them. May waste and want come to an end. May 
every one who is able to work find useful and 
continuous employment and receive his proper share 
of what his labor produces. 

" Thy kingdom come " in schools and in all sys- 
tems of education. May all those who have in 
charge the instruction and training of the young 
be thy servants and be taught of thee. May they 
have a just and adequate conception of the nature 
and importance of their work. May they under- 
stand that the making of good, strong men and 
women is the greatest of all occupations. May this 
be the purpose that shall shape all their plans. May 
this be the goal of all their efforts. Grant, O Lord, 
that in training the minds and bodies of their 
pupils they may not forget their moral and religious 
w 



33^ IF CHRIST WERE KING 

needs. Forbid that in their minds the little should 
usurp the place of the great. Give to them, we 
entreat thee, grace and wisdom and power for their 
work. 

We pray for the young people in the public 
schools of this country. May they be saved from 
vice and corruption, from frivolity and idleness, 
from undue love of games and sports and social 
functions, from the spirit of caste, and from every 
form of lawlessness. We pray that the moral stand- 
ards among them may be high and noble, that they 
may do their work with patience and thorough- 
ness, that they may early appreciate the seriousness 
of life, that there may be good-fellowship among 
them and the spirit of brotherhood, and that they 
may in school form such habits as will make them 
good citizens of the nation, law-abiding, demo- 
cratic, public-spirited; good members of society 
with the spirit of service; good heads of families 
fitted to build homes and rear other generations 
better than themselves, and valuable workers in 
thy kingdom. 

We pray for the young men and the young 
women in universities and colleges. May they be 
serious and cultivate the habit of thoroughness in 
their work. May they appreciate the greatness of 
their opportunity before it is too late. May the 
young men be saved from lawlessness and rowdy- 
ism. May they cultivate the habits of good citizens. 
May they learn in school to respect the rights of 



THY KINGDOM COME 339 

others. Above all things, O Lord, we pray that 
they may not become godless and indifferent to thy 
claims. May not learning nor pride of intellect nor 
love of pleasure nor the formation of evil habits 
turn them away from thy service. May they learn 
that the religious part of man is the most important 
and cultivate the spiritual nature along with the 
intellectual and physical to the end that they may 
be true men and women. And we pray that the 
knowledge and culture and mental power gained in 
schools all over the world may be consecrated to 
thee and used in the interests of thy kingdom. May 
the spirit of service be the governing spirit in all 
schools. Save our young people, O Lord, from self- 
ish plans and ambitions and may they plan for the 
good of humanity. 

We offer a special prayer for theological sem- 
inaries — for the schools which undertake the prepa- 
ration for their work of pastors and missionaries. 
We pray that they may be loyal to Christ, loyal to 
the revealed word, and loyal to the kingdom. May 
they be in very truth " schools of prophets." Save 
them, we entreat thee, from the pride of learning, 
from "philosophy and vain deceit," from every- 
thing that savors of this world. May the students 
in them be true disciples of Christ, filled with the 
Spirit and developed in power for loving service. 

Grant, O Lord, that all learning may be perme- 
ated with the Christian spirit. May the men who 
pry into the mysteries of nature find thee in all its 



34° IF CHRIST WERE KING 

objects, forces, and laws. May those who study 
the personality of man find in him a replica of the 
supremely great personality. May those who study 
the universe in its larger aspects be convinced that 
" the heavens declare the glory of God and the 
firmament showeth his handiwork. ,, May students 
of history learn that thou dost " set up and put 
down/' and that in spite of the wickedness of men 
thy hand has been present and controlling in the 
events of all the ages. We pray that all scholars 
may be humble in thy presence and know that there 
are mysteries which the human mind cannot solve, 
heights and depths which it cannot reach. 

" Thy kingdom come " in the world of literature. 
Grant that all those who write for the public may be 
inspired by noble purposes. Save them, we pray 
thee, from the mercenary spirit. Save them from 
catering to low tastes for the sake of popularity. 
May all that they send forth instruct the mind, 
quicken the imagination, or purify the heart. May 
the torrent of false history, of degrading fiction, 
of polluting poetry, of foolish philosophy, of mis- 
leading theology, of frivolous magazines and " yel- 
low " journals, be stayed by thy powerful hand. 
Grant, O Lord, that all writers and publishers may 
learn and feel the wickedness of spreading broad- 
cast over the world that which is injurious to 
humanity. 

We thank thee, O Lord, for the great writers of 
the past, and for the rich treasures of knowledge 



THY KINGDOM COME 34 1 

and thought and feeling which we have in their 
works. We pray that yet greater writers may arise 
in the future and that they may be many. And we 
desire, O Lord, that they may be thy servants, wri- 
ting to exalt Christ, to glorify thy name, and to ben- 
efit humanity. We thank thee for the invention of 
the printing-press and for all the blessings it has 
brought to the race. We pray that in the future 
it may be the means of multiplying only that which 
is good. May its great power no longer be divided, 
but may it serve only Christ and his kingdom. 

We pray that in their reading Christians may se- 
lect the good. Forbid, O Lord, that they should 
give money or time to those kinds of reading which 
enfeeble the mind or corrupt the morals. May 
they bear their testimony against Sunday news- 
papers by refusing to buy and read them. May 
they not put into their minds and hearts through 
reading that which will unfit them to be the taber- 
nacles of the Holy Spirit. May they feed their 
souls on that which is good and which tends to 
edifying. 

" Thy kingdom come " in art. We thank thee 
for the influence of Christianity upon the art of 
Europe and America. We thank thee that Christ 
has been honored in architecture, painting, and 
sculpture. We thank thee that artists have found 
so many of their subjects in the life of Christ and 
the lives of his servants and have been inspired 
by the greatness of his work. We pray that all 



34 2 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

art may be consecrated to his service and to the 
good of humanity. May nothing be produced 
which he would disapprove. May those works of 
art Avhich are intended simply to give pleasure and 
cultivate esthetic sensibility be elevating in their 
suggestions. May all works of beauty make those 
who behold them feel like praying, " Let the beauty 
of the Lord, our God, be upon us." We pray that 
music and poetry may be for the praise of God as 
well as for the pleasure of men. As thou hast 
filled the world with beauty in nature, so may men 
more and more surround themselves with beauty in 
their homes, in public buildings, and in their cities 
and towns. In this matter, O Lord, save us from 
extremes. May we not confuse esthetic sensibil- 
ity with religion ; neither may we feel that love of 
beauty is irreligion. May our taste be cultivated and 
refined, may we love beauty in everything, but 
may we see clearly that first and greatest of all is 
" the beauty of holiness." 

" Thy kingdom come " in the State. We thank 
thee, O Lord, that there are States which are be- 
coming Christian. We pray that their progress 
toward that desirable goal may be mightily ac- 
celerated by the influence of thy word and thy 
Spirit. May the right of Jesus Christ to reign in 
civil and political affairs be generally and speedily 
recognized. May all the professed followers of 
Christ become Christian citizens of the country to 
which they belong. May they seek to know and do 



THY KINGDOM COME 343 

the will of Christ in city, State, and national af- 
fairs. We pray that all governments may become 
free and that the people may become capable of 
self-government. May governments be conducted 
in the interests of the many and not for the ad- 
vantage of the few. We pray that thou wilt put 
down by thy strong hand rulers who are guilty 
of tyranny, oppression, and injustice. Where the 
people are free may they elect good men — men 
after thine own heart — to fill the offices of their 
country. Grant, Lord, that those who serve the 
people may be promoted and those who seek selfish 
ends may be deprived of power. 

We pray that those who make the laws of every 
land may be thy servants and that every law may 
express thy will. May those who execute the laws 
do it with faithfulness, unmoved by the fear of 
man or the hope of gain or by any motive lower 
than justice and love. May " courts of justice " 
be such in reality as well as in name and every 
one who appeals to them receive fair treatment, 
whether he be rich or poor, high or low. We pray 
for all institutions of the State — its schools, its 
hospitals, its asylums, its reformatories, and its 
prisons. We pray especially for the criminal 
classes. May the time soon come when there will 
be no such classes. May all governments learn how 
to restrain them and at the same time to transform 
them into good citizens. May we do away with 
those conditions which are favorable to the pro- 



344 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

duction of criminals. Grant us wisdom and ability 
to save the boys and girls before they go into the 
ways of sin and crime. We pray, O Lord, that all 
the people may learn to respect their rulers and the 
laws of their land. We pray for our own nation 
that thou wilt save our people from lawlessness 
and from disregard for rightful authority. May 
we learn the value of civil government and be will- 
ing to sacrifice some abstract right and personal 
pleasures for the sake of the State. May Chris- 
tian people see that in the State they find one of 
their noblest opportunities for the service of 
humanity. 

May " thy kingdom come " in the relations of the 
States to one another. We pray that all interna- 
tional hatred, rivalry, contempt, injustice, and 
wrong may be swept from the earth. May the 
nations cease to distrust and fear one another. 
Grant, Lord, that they may be true neighbors and 
cherish toward one another a fraternal spirit. 
May they not learn war any more. May they 
beat their swords into plowshares and their spears 
into pruning-hooks. May they see the wickedness, 
the waste, and the folly of war and devote their 
energies to producing and saving rather than to 
destroying. May they be permeated with the Chris- 
tian spirit, the spirit of peace and love and good 
will to all men. Open their eyes, Lord, that they 
may see the hypocrisy of calling themselves " Chris- 
tian nations " while they worship the war-god and 



THY KINGDOM COME 345 

cultivate the fighting spirit. We pray that thou wilt 
lead them soon to establish an international court 
in which all disputes and questions of equity be- 
tween the nations may be settled according to prin- 
ciples of righteousness. And we pray that even 
commercial war among the nations may cease and 
that every people may find a free market in all the 
world for those things which they are best able to 
produce. 

" Thy kingdom come " in all the world. The 
blessings which we ask for ourselves we ask for all 
peoples. We pray that Jews, Mohammedans, 
Hindus, Buddhists, and all followers of natural re- 
ligions may turn to the true Light " which lighteth 
every man." May they see that Jesus Christ is thy 
Son and appointed by thee, the God and Father of 
us all, to be the universal Saviour and Lord. May 
they find in him that fulness of life which we all 
crave and which is offered in no other. May the 
principles he taught and lived become the guiding 
principles of those who are now following false 
lights. We pray that the civilizations which are 
now tinctured and tainted by pagan religions may be 
purified and transformed into the Christian type. 

We beseech thee, O Lord, to bestow thy choicest 
and abundant blessings upon the missionaries in 
non-Christian lands. May they not be appalled nor 
disheartened by the terrible evils which confront 
them. May they not be overwhelmed by the mag- 
nitude of their work. May they be strong and 



346 IF CHRIST WERE KING 

steadfast and very courageous. May they do their 
work in hope, believing that the purpose of Christ 
to establish his kingdom in these lands will be ac- 
complished. Comfort them, we pray thee, in their 
sorrows and trials. By thy presence with them 
and thy grace in their hearts make up to them, 
we pray, the deprivations they suffer through ab- 
sence from their own country. May they have the 
power of the Holy Spirit resting constantly and 
abundantly upon them. Prosper them, we beseech 
thee, in their work. May they preach and teach 
the word with power. May thy blessing rest upon 
their schools and may they train their pupils for 
wise and faithful work in the kingdom. May mis- 
sionaries and converts be faithful to Christian doc- 
trines and ideals. Grant, Lord, that Asia and Af- 
rica and the isles of the sea may escape the errors 
and mistakes which Europe and America have 
made, as they become Christian, and go on a straight 
course toward a Christian civilization. So may 
" thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as 
it is in heaven/' Amen. 



GENERAL INDEX 



Amusements: are good and bad, 
75. 76, 79, 80; improved, 
Christianity has, 291. 

Antipathy, racial, opposes king- 
dom, 265, 266. 

Art: should be consecrated to 
king, 247, 248; consecration 
of, is increasing, 317; has 
dangers, 243; should subserve 
higher interests, 243; Jesus 
was not indifferent to, 241, 
242; pray for, 341, 342; true 
purpose of, is denned, 247; 
may be used in worship, 244- 
246; works of, have been pro- 
duced by cruelty, 243, 244. 

Atonement, was Christ's means 
of victory, 22. 

Bible, study of the, is a pleas- 
ure, 83. 

Bruce, Doctor, is quoted, 100. 

Business: related to extension 
of kingdom, 188; should be 
honest, 187, 188; kingdom is 
related to, 187-190; has some- 
times opposed missions, 189, 
190. 

Charlemagne, hindered growth 
of kingdom, 47. 

Caste: Christianity abolishes, 
287-289; origin of, is stated, 
125; is opposed to kingdom, 
262, 263; pray for the victims 
of, 332; is persistent, 126; 
takes various forms, 125, 126. 

Children: Christianity im- 
proves condition of, 282-284; 
owe duties to parents, 207; 
owe duties to one another, 
208; pagans neglect their, 
203, 204, 283; pray in be- 
half of, 327, 334. 

Christ: was appointed king, 20; 
claims kingship, 19; had 
courage, 24, 81; was not de- 
luded, 20; is our friend and 
helper, 81, 82; was independ- 
ent, 24, 25; was not an im- 



postor, 21; had intellectual 
greatness, 25, 26, 28, 29; had 
insight, 24; is king, 19; love 
of, is described, 59, 60; dealt 
with man as man, 132, 139 
140; had moral enthusiasm 
25; when, will return, 301 
302; rules in love, 23; had 
simplicity, 24; example of 
bears on social order, 128-132 
was truthful, 23; valued all 
men, 132-134; won his king 
dom, 21; is worthy to be king 

-23. 

Christians: have duties to so 
ciety, 120-123; are the hap 
piest people, 96; mutual con 
ference of, gives pleasure 
83; are all preachers, 106 
107; hold peculiar relations to 
one another, 82-84; working 
together gives pleasure to, 83, 
84. 

Christianity: amusements were 
reformed by, 291; cares for 
life, 280-282; caste is abol- 
ished by, 287-289; is a dy- 
namic, 278; family life is im- 
proved by, 282-286; health is 
promoted by, 289, 290; creates 
humane feeling, 293, 295; 
ideals of, are noblest, 278-280; 
Occidental, is improved by 
missions, 319, 320; has scarce- 
ly been tried, 274-276; sla- 
very was abolished by, 286, 
287; social aspects of, be- 
come prominent, 311, 312; is 
a social religion, 101, 102. 

Church, a paganized, is hostile 
to kingdom, 268, 269. 

Churches, the: have been aris- 
tocratic, 127; arrogated undue 
authority, 98; business of, is 
to make good men and women, 
1 18-123 ; Christ established, 

100, 1 01 ; Christ works through, 

1 01, 102; were soon cor- 
rupted, 99, 100, 102; are im- 
perfect, 42, 105; influence of, 

347 



348 



GENERAL INDEX 



has been good, 102, 103; re- 
lation of, to kingdom is 
shown, 97-123; are not the 
kingdom, 97, 99; should illus- 
trate love, 109, 113; are 
means to an end, 99; are ob- 
ject-lessons to the world, 101, 
109-115; pray for, 327-330; 
are to preach the gospel, 106- 
108; are not reform societies, 
118, 119, 120; regenerate per- 
sons should compose, 103-105, 
114; return to true work, 314; 
should illustrate righteousness, 
113, 115; should maintain 
right relations to one another, 
120-122; are to teach the word, 
108, 109; unity is desired by, 

315. 

Civilization: includes art, 241- 
248; includes dress and man- 
ners, 248-253; follows Chris- 
tianity, 232, 233; Jesus was 
silent on the higher, 233, 234; 
relation of, to kingdom is dis- 
cussed, 232-253; includes 
learning, 233-237; includes 
literature, 237-240. 

Code, a, grows slowly, 57, 58. 

Code of the kingdom: love com- 
prises the, 58-74; is discussed, 
57-74; nature of, is denned, 

57. 

Collectivism: has advantages, 
173-175; is dream of future, 
175; demands good people, 
183; objections to, are an- 
swered, 172, 173. 

Constantine: hindered growth 
of kingdom, 47; paganized 
Christianity, 220. 

Culture, may be a hindrance, 

134- 
Day, the working, how long 
should be, 183, 184. 

Democracy, is growing, 309, 310. 

Dress: kingdom has relation to, 
248-253. 

Divorce: causes of, are shown, 
195-198; should be granted 
only for adultery, 199, 202; is 
increasing, 197, 198; Jesus' 
teaching on, 198, 199. 

Dunkards, are mistaken, 249. 

Ecclesiasticism, is injurious to 
State, 220. 

Education, Christianity has im- 
proved, 291, 292. 

Employment: collectivism se- 



cures, 174; lack of, is problem, 

174- 
Enemies of kingdom: all non- 
Christians are, 261, 262, 269, 
270; some are unconscious, 
270-272; are very strong, 272, 

273- 

Evangelization: forces of, are 
growing, 306, 307; native 
Christians engage in, 3071-309; 
spirit of, is increasing, 305, 
3o6. m 

Evolution, does not make citi- 
zens of kingdom, 31. 

Expectation, concerning kingdom 
was great, 34-36. 

Faith: defined, 32; necessary* 
32. 

Family, the: Christianity is 
beneficial to, 203, 204, 282- 
286; should be Christian, 207; 
will continue, 193, 194; is dis- 
cussed, 191-209; is of divine 
origin, 191, 194; is source of 
happiness, 78; helps the king- 
dom, 205, 206; needs a house, 
205; is important, 208, 209; 
individualism endangers, 195- 
198; Jesus taught on, 198, 199; 
obligation to, is primary, 69, 
70; pray for, 325-327. 

Future of the kingdom, is dis- 
cussed, 301-322. 

Gospel: defined, 50, 51; should 
be preached, 52, 53, 106-108. 

Government, human, is not for- 
bidden, 135. (See State.) 

Growth: is a great blessing, 90- 
92; law of, is fixed, 45; is 
hindered by bad conditions, 
91, 92. 

Growth of kingdom: will be ac- 
celerated, 305-322; consider 
teaching of Jesus on the, 38; 
divine power promotes, 54-56; 
is extensive, 40, 41, 43; can- 
not be forced, 46-48; is in- 
tensive, 41, 42, 43; intensive, 
is slow, 309; means of, should 
be used, 49-56; method of, is 
discussed, 34-56; more rapid 
at some times than others, 49; 
will be slow, 37; will not be 
completed suddenly, 36, 43, 
301-305. 

Health, is promoted by Chris- 
tianity, 289, 290. 
Holy Spirit: baptism in, is de- 



GENERAL INDEX 



349 



scribed, 10; work of, belittled, 
304; is source of Christian's 
power, 54, 55; gave Christ 
power, 22, 76; dependence on, 
is growing, 320, 321; work of, 
is mysterious, 44; is motive 
power of missions, 106; is 
power for promoting kingdom, 
55; regenerates, 54, 55. 
Hope: is great blessing, 95, 96; 
is enjoyed by subjects of king- 
dom, 95, 96. 

Images, are dangerous in wor- 
ship, 246. 

Incarnation, was necessary to 
Christ's kingship, 21, 22. 

Industrial order, the: Christian 
missions improve, 185, 186; 
of collectivism has advantages, 
I73* I 75; of cooperation is 
good, 183; is discussed, i69>- 
190; shows improvement on 
past, 183, 295, 296; how can, 
be improved? 185; Jesus 
taught on, 187, 189; should be 
just, 181, 182; should be based 
on love, 182; of the present is 
bad for character, 180; of 
the present involves strife be- 
tween labor and capital, 175, 
176-178; violates Sabbath, 180, 
181, 185. 

Industry, Christianity encour- 
ages, 169, 170, 171, 186. 

International relations: have 
been improved, 298; pray for, 
344, 345- 

Jerusalem, the new, represents 
the kingdom, 13. 

Jews, the: misunderstood proph- 
ecy concerning kingdom, 303; 
were opposed to kingdom, 254- 
256, 262; still oppose kingdom, 
269, 270. 

Joy, is possessed by subjects of 
kingdom, 89. 

Kempis, Thomas a, talked with 
Christ, 80. 

King, who shall be the? 20-27. 

Kingdom, the: all may enter, 30, 
31, 32; authority in, rests on 
service, 142; had small be- 
ginning, 34; is related to busi- 
ness, 185-190; is denned, 10; 
should be sought first, 164, 
165; future of, is discussed, 
301-322; is of grace, 13; how, 
grows, 34-56; growth of, will 



be accelerated, 300-322; is re- 
lated to higher civilization, 
232-253; is invisible, 15; Jews 
hated, 255, 256; nature of, is 
discussed, 10-18; is opposed, 
254-273; pleasures of, are de- 
fined, 75-96; pray for the com- 
ing of, 321-346; is present, 11; 
progress of, is discussed, 274- 
300; is social, 17; is related to 
State, 210-231 ; is spiritual, 14; 
will not be suddenly perfected, 
305-322; is supernatural, 12; is 
universal, 28, 29; becomes visi- 
ble, 16; has wide relations, 17, 
84, 99, 118, 121, 245. 

Labor: methods of, have been 
revolutionized, 175. 176; 
should be duly rewarded, 174, 
i75. 

Labor question. (See Industrial 
Order.) 

Laws, good, serve three pur- 
poses — restrain, educate, en- 
courage, 22^-226. 

Learning: should be Christian- 
ized, 235; Christian fathers 
and Puritans promoted, 235; 
has dangers, 236, 237; Jesus 
was not indifferent to, 234; 
should serve kingdom, 237. 

Life: cared for by Christianity, 
280-282; mysterious, 44; real- 
ity of, 44; spiritual, is from 
Christ, 54. 

Liquor business, the, opposes 
kingdom, 265. 

Literature: Christians may use, 
238; Christians may produce, 
238; should be Christianized, 
240; Christianity has improved, 
292, 293; Jesus was not in- 
different to, 237, 238; pray 
for, 340, 341. 

Love of Christ, is described, 59, 
60. 

Love, the law of: class distinc- 
tions are swept away by, 67; 
children should learn, 208, 
209; churches should illus- 
trate, I09rii3; employers and 
employees should be ruled by, 
66, 67; explains puzzling com- 
mands, 71, 72; family should 
be ruled by, 65, 66; is feared, 
70, 71; includes all laws, 58, 
59, 62; needs interpretation, 
73; neighbors should be ruled 
by, 66; is new, 58, 60, 61; 
newness of, denned, 58, 59; 



350 



GENERAL INDEX 



obedience made easy by, 62; 
positive duties required by, 65- 
68; prohibitions superseded by, 
63-65; promotes public spirit 
and patriotism, 67, 68; prompts 
to service, 62; right relations 
to one another are included in, 
62-68; self-interest is protected 
by, 68, 69; social pleasures 
should be governed by, 80; is 
workable, 70. 
Luxury, is unchristian, 249. 

Man: was rediscovered by Christ, 
132; is social being, 124; 
every, is valuable to kingdom, 
132-134; is before money, i79» 
180. 

Manners, kingdom has relation 
to, 248-253. 

Manual labor, is not a curse, 
171. 

Marriage: is for life, 192; is 
monogamous, 192, 193; Jesus 
taught on, 198, 199; propaga- 
tion is primary purpose of, 
202, 203; ultimate end of, is 
spiritual, 202. 

Millennium, meaning of, is de- 
fined, 302, 303. 

Missions, foreign: lay founda- 
tions of kingdom, 107, 108; 
improve industrial life, 185, 
186. 

Mohammedans, oppose kingdom, 
269, 270. 

Morgan, Dr. Campbell, talks 
with Christ, 80, 81. 

Music, fine: has dangers, 246; 
may be used in worship, 245, 
246. 

Nations, Christian: are imper- 
fect, 43; are dominating, 317, 

319. 
New birth: necessary, 29, 30; 

receiving Christ is condition 

of, 31. 
Newspapers, discussed, 240. 

Opportunity: is great blessing, 

89, 90, 95; includes growth, 

90, 91; subjects of kingdom 
have, 90; includes work for 
good cause, 92-95. 

Opposition to kingdom: con- 
tinues through the ages, 258, 
259; is discussed, 254,-273; ex- 
isted from beginning, 254; 
must be fought in Satan's serv- 
ants, 260; Gentiles displayed, 



256-258; Jews displayed, 254- 
256; is organized, 262-272; 
originates in Satan, 259-260; is 
personal, 261, 262. 

Pagans, oppose kingdom, 269, 
270. 

Pharisees: were not in the king- 
dom, 15; criticized Christ, 131. 

Parables of Jesus, illustrate how 
kingdom grows, 39-48. 

Parable of the Leaven, is dis- 
cussed, 39, 40. 

Parable of the Growing Grain: 
is discussed, 44; illustrates 
Christian growth, 45-48; shows 
how law of growth is fixed, 45. 

Parable of the Mustard-seed, dis- 
cussed, 39. 

Parents, owe duties to children, 
207. 

Peace: described, 88; is enjoyed 
by subjects of kingdom, 87-89. 

Pleasures of the kingdom: in- 
clude communion with Christ, 
80, 81; include communion of 
saints, 82-84; are discussed, 75- 
96; include esthetic delights, 
85; exist, 76; include all in- 
nocent pleasures, 78-80; in- 
clude joy, 89; are under law 
of love, 80; are needed, 77; 
include peace, 87-89; are per- 
sonal, 84-96; include good read- 
ing, 85; include recreation, 79; 
are social, 77-84. 

Preaching: appointed to win 
world to Christ, 22; churches 
should do, 106-108 • is related 
to growth of kingdom, 50-52; 
was neglected, 51. 

Peter: as confessor was founda- 
tion of church, 100, 101, 103, 
104; was mistaken, 271. 

Phillips, Wendell, is quoted, 92. 

Politicians, corrupt, oppose the 
kingdom, 269, 270. 

Property: acquisition of, is under 
certain rules, 161-163; brother- 
hood should not be sacrificed 
to, 151, 152; is discussed, 147- 
168; distribution of, is dis- 
cussed, 163-168; exaltation of, 
is forbidden, 148-150; is not 
highest good, 154; individual 
ownership of, works evil, 155; 
Jesus taught fully on, 147; 
public ownership of, is dis- 
cussed, 152-160; some private, 
always will be allowed, 160; is 
unimportant in relation to 



GENERAL INDEX 



351 



kingdom, 150, 151; voluntary 
and gradual change from pri- 
vate to public ownership of, 
is alone possible, 158, 159. 

Progress of the kingdom: aboli- 
tion of slavery shows, 286, 
287, 299; aided at home by 
missions, 319, 320; care for 
life shows, 280-282; decrease 
of war shows, 296-298; is dis- 
cussed, 274-300; education, im- 
proved, shows, 291, 292; ele- 
vation of ideals shows, 277- 
280; family life shows, 282- 
286; health, improvement in, 
shows, 289; humane feeling, 
growth of, shows, 293-295; in- 
dustrial conditions, improved, 
show, 295, 296; practical 
righteousness shows, 298, 299; 
as a realm of souls, is real, 
276, 277 \ social equality, 
growth of, shows, 287-289; 
sports, reform of, shows, 291; 
temperance, growth of, shows, 
290. 

Puritans; feared art, 241; hated 
frivolity, 249; hated luxury, 
249; made mistake, 47, 220; 
promoted learning, 235. 

Quakers, are mistaken, 249. 

Recreation: allowable, 79, 80; 

needed by all, 75. 
Religion, is not under control of 

State, 225. 
Repentance, is necessary, 32. 
Righteousness: churches ^ should 

illustrate, 113-115; Christianity 

demands, 299; demand for, 

grows, 312-314. 

Sabbath: needed by all, 180, 181; 
pray for the, 336. 

Savonarola, denounced M vani- 
ties," 241. 

Slavery: Christianity has abol- 
ished, 286, 287; was approved, 
299. 

State, the: cares for helpless, 
215; authority in, should rest 
on service, 226, 227 ; is be- 
coming Christian, 222; Chris- 
tian, is in future, 221, 222; 
how is, to be Christianized? 
219, 221; criminals should be 
dealt with rightly by, 224; 
will continue, 216-218; is de- 
fined, 210; should be demo- 
cratic, 222; is discussed, 210- 



231; education is provided by, 
215, 228, 229; functions of, 
are defined, 73; functions of, 
are important, 213-216; jus- 
tice is secured by, 214, 227 , 
228; kingdom of heaven on 
earth is represented by, 219; 
laws of, should express will 
of Christ, 223, 225, 226; good 
morals, are promoted by, 215; 
officers of, should be Chris- 
tian, 225, 226; opportunity 
>for service is afforded by, 
218, 219; origin of, is di- 
vine, 210-213; origin of, is 
not patriarchal, 210, 211; 
origin of, is not social con- 
tract, 2ii, 212; pray for, 342, 
345; pauperism and vagabond- 
age should be prevented by, 
227; prosperity is promoted 
by, 214; protection is afforded 
by, 218, 225; should not en- 
gage in war, 229. 

Stead, Wm. T., quoted, 297. 

Sectarianism: is wrong, 116; 
causes evils, 117, 118; repro- 
bation of, is growing, 315. 

Sermon on the Mount, describes 
citizens of kingdom, 16. _ 

Social order : the aristocratic, is 
forbidden, 134-136; authority 
rests on service, in true, 142; 
Christ taught on, 126, 134, 
139; Christians must work to 
improve, 144-146; conditions 
of salvation bear on, 137-139; 
should be democratic, 141, 
142; is discussed, 124-146; en- 
tertainments in, should be 
democratic and unselfish, 136, 
137; example of Jesus bears 
on, 128-132; equality of privi- 
lege should be found in, 140, 
141; man should be recog- 
nized as man in, 139, 140; 
pray for, 330-332; race hatred 
should not exist in, 141; is 
wrong in America, 142-144. 

Socialism, is growing, 310, 311. 

Subjects of kingdom: are men 
and women, 28; are native- 
born, 28-33; become like king, 
32; walk by faith, 33; have 
peace, 87-89; have joy, 89; 
have opportunity, 89-94. 

Teaching: was appointed to es- 
tablish the kingdom, 22; 
churches should do, 108, 109; 
all duties should be covered 



35^ 



GENERAL INDEX 



by, 122, 123; growth of king- 
dom depends on, 52-54; was 
neglected, 53; subjects of, 
were wrong, 53. 

Temperance, is promoted by 
Christianity, 289, 290. 

Tolstoy, was mistaken, 69, *]2, 
216. 

Truth, all, is promoted by king- 
dom, 235, 236. 

"Thy kingdom come": in art, 
341, 342; in business, 33^-337; 
in churches, 327-330; in every 
department of life, 324, 325; 
in families and homes, 325; 
Jesus taught us to say, 321, 
322; in literature, 340, 341; 
the prayer, is paraphrased, 
323-346; in the State, 342-345: 
in schools, 337-340; in social 
life, 330-332; in us, 323, 324. 

War: is decreasing, 296-298; 



horrors of, have been miti- 
gated, 281; is not necessary 
to develop heroic virtues, 279, 
280; is opposed to kingdom, 
266, 267; is unchristian, 229- 
231. 

Wealth: acquisition of, is not 
first duty, 148-150; is dis- 
cussed, 147-168; is a hin- 
drance, 133, 134; is increased 
by progress of kingdom, 166, 
167; organized, opposes king- 
dom, 263. 

Women: are aristocratic, 144; 
Christianity improves condi- 
tion of, 285, 286; are de- 
graded in pagan lands, 203, 
284; pray for, 324, 326. 

Worship, public, is a pleasure, 
82. 

Workers for Christ: are increas- 
ing, 316; should be trained, 
316. 



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